Standing crop damage in seven Vidarbha districts and two in Marathwada is the severest due to the heavy rain that lashed Maharashtra early this month for a prolonged period. Data compiled by the agriculture department on Wednesday (July 27) stated that over 10.7 lakh hectares of standing crops were damaged in the state. Of this, crops in over 5.7 lakh hectares were damaged in seven districts of Vidarbha and over 3.7 lakh hectares in two districts of Marathwada.

The maximum crop damage spread over one lakh acre was reported from Nanded, Amravati, Yavatmal and wardha. Districts such as Sangli, Kolhapur, Washim, Ratnagiri and Thane reported least damage to the standing crops. Sangli reported crop damage in only 2 hectares and in Kolhapur about 25 hectares. Districts like Pune reported crop loss in 2,500 hectares and Nashik in about 1,150 hectares.

An irrigation department official said compared to last year, the crop damage in 2022 was significantly low. The heavy rain last year had damaged standing crops in around 40 lakh hectares.

"The bulk of the damage involves soybean and cotton this time. There is likely to be around a 10% drop in soybean and cotton production this kharif season. To some extent, tur crops, too, were damaged. Over 42% of panchama of the affected areas have been completed and the rest will be done by early next week," an official in the department said.

The agriculture department hastold all district administrations in the state to furnish the list of affected farmers. "Once we get the list of the affected farmers from all districts, a report would be prepared on the crop loss and affected farmers and submitted to the state government for decisions on compensation," the official said.

Ajit Navale, a farmers' leader, said the state should immediately provide Rs50,000 per hectare as compensation and provide seeds and fertilisers to the affected farmers for re-sowing of damaged crops. "Insurance firms must provide compensation. It's sad that the present government does not have an agriculture minister, who could have acted swiftly on the compensation," he said.

Source - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com