Rain damages crops in over 10 lakh hectares in Maharashtra; MP Ravindra Chavan wants calamity-hit tag for Nanded

The heavy rain received in the second week of August led to most of the crop damage in Maharashtra.

After an almost-dry July, the monsoon picked up towards the third and fourth weeks of August. (Express Photo)

Incessant rain over the past few days has damaged crops in over 10 lakh hectares in 29 districts of Maharashtra, with Nanded, Washim, Dharashiv, Yavatmal, Buldhana, and Solapur reporting most of the losses. Nanded MP Ravindra Chavan has asked that the district, where crops were damaged in 2.5 lakh hectares, be declared calamity-hit and compensation given to all farmers without undertaking a panchnama exercise to estimate the losses.

“Most farmers had almost harvested ready crops, and we need to come to their aid fast,” Ravindra Chavan said on Saturday.

As many as 183 talukas have reported crop damage, with crops like cotton, soyabean, tur, mung, maize, jawari, turmeric, and vegetables sustaining damage, according to officials. Crops in over 1.5 lakh hectares have been damaged in Washim, 1.5 lakh hectares in Dharashiv, 1.18 lakh hectares in Yavatmal, 89,776 hectares in Buldhana, and 47,266 hectares in Solapur.

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After an almost-dry July, the monsoon picked up towards the third and fourth weeks of August. Most of the damage was reported between August 15 and 20. In Nanded, crop damage was due to the excessive rain reported between August 14 and 18. In Washim, the damage was reported between August 7 and August 18. The heavy rain in the second week of August led to most of the crop losses in the state.

Ramesh Patil, a farmer from Chakur tehsil in Latur district, said there has been extensive damage to the soyabean crop in the area. “In our area, the soyabean crop was in an advanced stage of pod formation. The crop would be ready for harvesting in the next few weeks. The loss is immense,” he said.

Patil said the panchnama work is going on, but that the process was taking time. “There are some unpaid claims for compensation under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna – the crop insurance scheme of the Central Government- from last year. We demand early resolution to the problems,” he said.

Parthasarathi Biswas

Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More

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