Heavy rains affected crops like paddy, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables: Indian Govt

Heavy rains in some parts of the country have affected standing crops including paddy, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruits and vegetables, Parliament was informed on last Friday.

“There have been extreme weather events in the form of heavy rains in some parts of the country which affected the standing crops,” Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Tomar also shared the state-wise details of crops affected due to heavy rains, as reported by the state governments.

As much as 52,551.99 hectares in Andhra Pradesh have been affected. The impacted crops include banana, vegetables, betelvine, onion, papaya, flowers, yam, chillis and tomato.

Assam has reported 1,90,176.73 hectares being impacted. Rice, maize, jute, pulses and vegetables have been affected.

In Bihar, 9,22,038.82 hectares with paddy, maize, fruits and vegetables crops have been hit.

Karnataka has reported 3,31,334.97 hectare area being affected. The impacted crops include paddy, cotton, redgram, greengram, soybean, blackgram, jowar, groundnut, maize sugarcane, ragi, bajra, foxtail millet, cowpea, sesamum, sunflower and tobacco.

In Maharashtra, the impacted area covers 1,70,899 hectares with crops like groundnut, tur, cotton, jowar, turmeric, maize, sugarcane, soybean and vegetables. The Odisha government has reported that 2,21,262 hectares (paddy and horticulture crops) have been affected.

In Telangana, 1,43,388.38 hectares area has been hit. The crops affected include paddy, cotton, redgram, greengram, soybean, blackgram, jowar, groundnut, maize, sugarcane, banana, guava, apple, oil palm, turmeric, chilly, papaya, drumstick, vegetables, flowers, and red chilli. Chhattisgarh has reported damage in 12,615 hectares area having soyabean and other crops.

In Kerela, 4,754.09 hectares have been affected, with crops including coconut, cardamom, ginger, tuber crops, turmeric, cashew, rubber, pepper, tapioca, beetelvine, vegetables, arecanut, banana, coffee, pineapple and paddy.

Tamil Nadu has reported 787.26 hectares of affected area having crops like paddy, maize, gingelly, groundnut, sugarcane, jowar/sorghum, pulses/green gram and coconut.

In Punjab, 24,403 hectares, with cotton, paddy and other crops, have been hit, while in Arunachal Pradesh 6,864.76 hectares have been hit, damaging paddy, maize, millets, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits and plantation crops.

Madhya Pradesh has reported crop loss in soyabean, maize, arhar, urad, moong and paddy.

The Gujarat government has reported that crops in 14 districts have been affected but did not provide details of the area.

In Himachal Pradesh, 35,340.90 hectares have been hit having maize, paddy, kharif pulses and vegetable crops.

“The State Government is primarily responsible for taking necessary relief measures in the wake of natural calamities,” Tomar said.

For undertaking relief measures, funds are available with the state government in the form of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

Additional financial assistance, over and above SDRF, is considered from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for natural calamities of severe nature and is approved on the basis of memorandum received from the state government.

“In order to insulate farmers against the loss of crop due to natural calamities, Government of India had launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from April 2016,” the minister added.