Untimely rain: 72,000 ha crop loss

“The untimely rainfall has led to damage to crops across the state and it will take time to ascertain the exact loss,” state Agriculture Minister Balasaheb Thorat said here on Thursday after a review in the district. “Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has held a meeting in Mumbai today to discuss the matter and it has been decided to estimate the damage by next Tuesday so that the issue can be taken up in Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.”

A good percentage of grape growers in the district,around Narayangaon,and in Nashik were in the middle of the pruning season that requires a fair bit of dry weather. “Most grape farmers are likely to lose at least Rs 1 lakh an acre because of the rains,” said Sopan Kanchan,president of the Grape Growers Association.

The state government,however,has announced aid at the rate of Rs 2,000 per hectare for rain-fed crop,Rs 4,000 per hectare for irrigated crop and Rs 6,000 per hectare for double crop where the damage is over 50 per cent. “The Cabinet will take a final decision on the compensation,” Thorat said.

The biggest damage to crop has been in Pune,Thane,Raigad,Ratnagiri,Sindhudurg,Nasik,Ahmednagar,Satara,Sangli,Kolhapur and Bhandara district. Among the crops,rice,jowar,sugarcane,vegetables,grape and pomegranate are the worst affected. “At least 72,000 hectares of agriculture land got a beating due to rain and wind.”

In Pune region,9,700 hectares of agriculture land was affected while rain damaged crops in 13,100 hectares in Nashik region. In Konkan,the rice crop was ready for harvesting and nearly 13,700 hectares of rice crop has been damaged by the untimely rain. The mango,cashew,coconut and banana crops too have been badly affected; a total of 14,034 hectares affected in the region. The Kolhapur division has an estimated damage in 25,125 hectares — mostly jowar,groundnut and vegetables. Of this,14,300 hectares of grape and pomegranate crop was the worst-hit.

On the positive side,the green gram and tur are likely to benefit from the rain. Thorat said the untimely rain is likely to result in good agriculture yield in Marathwada and Vidarbha.