Paddy crop in Anantapur bears the brunt of Cyclone Nivar

Damage enumeration exercise to be completed by Dec. 15

Vagaries of nature: Farmers covering the harvested paddy at Bondaladinne village as heavy rain lashed Anantapur district on Friday.

The incessant rain under the influence of cyclonic storm Nivar that lashed the central and eastern parts of Anantapur district on Thursday and Friday has caused an estimated crop damage of ₹2.99 crore, Agriculture Joint Director Y. Ramakrishna has said.

The damaged crops include paddy in 82 villages of 15 mandals and groundnut and maize crops in four villages.

There are, however, no reports of damage to properties or complete inundation of colonies in the district. Joint Collector Nishant Kumar, who has been monitoring the damage done by heavy rain, has ordered enumeration of crop damage.

“The BPT-5204 variety of paddy, popularly known as Sona Masuri, has been damaged due to gusty winds and continuous rain. The enumeration of actual damage will start from Saturday and the exercise will be completed by December 15,” said Mr. Nishant Kumar.

Input subsidy

The enumeration data will help in assessment of the input subsidy cost that the government need to provide to 1,243 farmers who have undertaken crops in around 716 hectares. Preliminary estimation has put the input subsidy at ₹1.07 crore.

The district recorded an average rainfall of 27 mm between 8.30 a.m. on Thursday and 8.30 a.m. on Friday. Nambulapulakunta Mandal recieved a record precipitation of 244 mm.

On Friday, the weather system moved northwards causing close to 20 mm of rainfall in Mudigubba, Anantapur city, Rural and Gooty mandals by 8 p.m. By 5 p.m. on Friday, 23 of the 63 mandals in the district received rainfall between 10 mm and 20 mm.