Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

No major damage to crops: officials

VIJAYAWADA: District agricultural officials said on Saturday a major damage to paddy crop was averted following lesser rainfall till Saturday. This has helped the fields dry up faster, so that the harvested paddy kept in heaps in the fields is not damaged to the extent of being discoloured and germinated.

Agricultural officials said harvesting of paddy had been completed in 80,000 hectares out of the total 2.5 lakh hectares in the delta area in the district, covering Gudivada, Mudinepalli, Kaikaluru, Avanigadda and other areas. They said there was no need for panic about the crop damage in the wake of heavy rains under the impact of ‘Nisha’ cyclone that hit Tamil Nadu very hard in the past three days.

Agriculture Joint Director G. Vaman Goud said there was little rain recorded since Saturday morning in most parts of the district. There were concerns about the paddy lying on sheaths in the fields, for which farmers should spray salt to avoid moisture build-up and discolouration.

When compared to the 5 cm to 6 cm of rainfall received during the ‘Khai Muk’ cyclone, the rains received in the past three days under the influence of ‘Nisha’ was more and it came to 7 cm till Saturday evening. There had been no inundation problem anywhere, as the largely empty canals and drains received the rainwater.

Mr. Goud said these rains had been of great help to the farmers in West Krishna, where the rainfall was favourable to cotton and chilli crops.

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