A two-member Central team on Tuesday visited flood-affected villages in Kamalapur taluk of Kalaburagi district to assess crop and infrastructure damage caused by heavy rain in August and September last year and heard grievances of farmers.

The team, comprising Director, Oilseeds Development Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ponnuswamy and Under Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development Jayashree Kakkar, inspected damaged crops, roads and bridges in Kinni Sadak, Dongargaon, Bhimanal and Kamalapur villages.

At Dongargaon village, the team visited the field of farmer Abhishek where red gram grown on 4.32 acres was completely damaged.

The farmer told the team that he had spent about ₹30,000 per acre but incessant rainfall destroyed the crop, leaving negligible yield.

Deputy Commissioner B. Fauzia Tarannum said that the district received above-normal rainfall, leading to widespread crop and infrastructure damage, including schools, health centres and anganwadis.

She said that relief has been provided as per NDRF norms and additional compensation, announced by the State government after an aerial survey by the Chief Minister, has also been disbursed.

Joint Director of Agriculture Department Samad Patel told the team that red gram was cultivated over 7,892 hectares in Kamalapur taluk alone. However, the taluk suffered nearly 80% crop loss. The high soil moisture made it difficult for sowing the second crop, worsening distress of farmers, Mr. Patel added.

The team also inspected an agriculture field belonging to Mahadevappa B. Savar in Kamalapur where red gram was damaged on 6.19 acres. The distressed farmer said he invested ₹25,000-₹30,000 per acre but the rainfall washed away the crop.

The team also inspected and reviewed damaged roads and a bridge between Kinni Sadak and Dhor Jambaga village in the district.

Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Bhanwar Singh Meena and senior officials from the Revenue and Agriculture departments were present.

Source - https://www.thehindu.com