Rain damages chilli crop worth Rs 30 crore

HYDERABAD: With the trough of low pressure formed over the Bay of Bengal intensifying further and moving towards the coast, more rains are expected in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions over the next 24 hours. Isolated rain or thundershowers are likely to occur in coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema regions but dry weather would prevail in Telangana districts during this period.

Rains lashed several parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, particularly Guntur and Nellore districts on Wednesday causing significant damage to crops and also disrupted normal life. Isolated rain also occurred in Telangana and Rayalaseema regions. According to Met department officials Kavali in Nellore district received highest rainfall of 17 cm in the past 24 hours followed by Vijayawada with 7 cm.

Untimely rains have been lashing Guntur and Khammam districts since Tuesday morning causing huge losses to farmers as rains damaged both the standing and harvested crops. Chilli farmers bore the brunt as the harvested crop that was ready for sale was damaged in Guntur and Khammam districts. An estimated loss of Rs 30 crore was reported in Guntur district alone. The Yedduvagu stream near Vakalapadu was overflowing on the road connecting Sattenapalli and Krosur forcing the commuters to take a detour.

According to preliminary estimates of agriculture and horticulture departments in Guntur district, paddy in 30,000 hectares, maize in 8,000 hectares, black and green grams in 8,000 hectares and jowar in 1,000 hectares were damaged due to the downpour. Crop loss was also high in Khammam district with paddy in 50,000 acres, chilli in 65,000 cares and mango in 1.2 lakh acres damaged.

In Nellore tobacco, pulses, turmeric and groundnut were destroyed in about 25,000 acres in and around Udayagiri, Seetharamapuram, Vinjamuru, Duthaluru, Varikuntapadu and Kavali. However, the agriculture officials said that they would be able to estimate the losses only after water recedes. Farmers fear that if the downpour continues for another 24 hours, it would completely damage their crop which is ready for harvesting.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here