The crop losses in Jammu and Kashmir floods are likely to cut the food production of the state by half as paddy and maize has suffered maximum damage in the worst ever torrent witnessed in last six decades.

Sources said that while the losses on account of crop damage may run in several hundred crores, the state is likely to face food crisis in view of steep fall in the production of food grains, vegetables and other crops.

“We are producing 18 to 19 lakh metric tons of food grains in the state and our requirement is 26 lakh metric tons” a senior official of Agricultural department said and added “As per initial estimates the food production this year will be somewhere between 8 to 9 lakh metric tons as major part of paddy and maize crop has been damaged in the floods”. He said that the food production would be hit in future as well due to the fact that thousands of hectares of agriculture land have been washed away across the state.

The consequences of massive loss to the standing crops in the fields has already started showing up with sky rocketing increase in the prices of vegetables and fruits, he added.

“The crop loss would also affect the state’s economy in view of the fact that agriculture is major contributor to its Gross Domestic Product “he said adding that the state would incur over two hundred crore loss only on account of low food grain production.

When contacted Director Agriculture, Jammu , S S Jamwal, said that around 50 percent of Paddy crop has been damaged in the rice production rich pockets of Jammu.

He added that in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts around 5000 hectare paddy land has been washed away which would leave far reaching affect on its production.

He said that the damage to the land under Maize crops is more alarming as initial assessment show that around 3 lakh hectare of such land has been washed away in Jammu region alone.

He further added that the seasonal vegetable production would also be badly hit as the floods have caused extensive damage both to the standing crop and the fresh seedlings across the region.

Source - http://www.greaterkashmir.com/