The recent floods in Maharashtra have damaged kharif, fruits and vegetable crops on over 1.5lakh hectares, rough estimates of the state agriculture department suggested.

Though the data is still being collected, preliminary estimates by the Pune agricultural division (which includes Pune, Ahmednagar and Solapur districts) revealed that crops on over 37,000-plus hectares of agricultural land in 691 villages in 21 blocks of these districts have been affected. Officials said that 116 hectare of agricultural land in Pune division has been rendered uncultivable due to washing away of alluvial soil by the flood waters. A senior agriculture department official said that eight to 10 districts — Thane, Raigad, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Nashik and Pune — have been affected the most. “We have not yet received detailed crop-wise damage figures, but major crops affected include soybean, sugarcane and paddy,” he said. In Pune division, for which the first damage estimates have been readied, crops in around 691 villages have been affected due to heavy rains and inundation recently. Among the three districts, most villages have been affected in Pune, followed by Ahmednagar and Solapur. “Around 203 villages in seven blocks in Ahmednagar have been affected, with crops on over 13,409 hectares damaged in the recent flood situation. Crops affected in Ahmednagar include soyabean, maize, bajra, cotton, sugarcane, vegetables, onions, fruits and vegetables. In Solapur, crop losses have mostly occurred due to inundation of agricultural fields adjoining rivers and rivulets,” the official said.