Farmers in Odisha have barely recovered from crop loss due to drought this year when a spell of unseasonal rain during the past 24 hours has damaged their ready-to-harvest crops in hundreds of acres of land in the State.

Keonjhar, Bargarh, Debgarh, Angul, Khurda and Dhenkanal have received unseasonal rainfall during the past 24 hours. In districts like Keonjhar, Debgarh and Dhenkanal, farmers made desperate attempts to complete crop cutting and take yields to safer places.

Rain has flattened ripened paddy crop in some areas of Keonjhar and Debgarh. Farmers are foreseeing more misfortune as the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre has predicted more sporadic rains in different parts of the State till December 23.

While harvesting of crops has been completed in major parts of the western Odisha district, it is still on in coastal and central Odisha.

In Bargarh, supply department authorities and farmers were caught unawares by the untimely rain and lack of sufficient tarpaulin sheets added to the extent of damage. Harvested paddy stocks have dampened, diminishing their market value. Farmers, who had harvested paddy, faced a tough time protecting the crop from dampening.

Paddy crop in kharif season had suffered extensive damage due to lack of rain during June and September. In 25 of 30 districts, farmers could not continue their normal paddy operation due to drought condition.

Source - www.thehindu.com