Cyclone Helen flattens 10 lakh acres of crops

VIJAYAWADA: Cyclone Helen caused havoc in Krishna and Godavari delta areas of Andhra Pradesh destroying standing crops in about 10 lakh acres and causing a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore. 

According to initial estimates, about three lakh acres of rice in East and West Godavari districts separately and 2.5 lakh acres in Krishna district were damaged. Another one lakh acre of crops was damaged in Visakhapatnam and Guntur districts. 

Paddy damage in Krishna and Godavari deltas will upset the state's targeted grain production this season. About 15% was lost in the two successive cyclonic storms in the state in the last one month. 

"It is really devastating loss to farmers as 90% of crops in three districts was washed away. The loss could be not less than Rs 5000 crore on paddy alone," said MVS Nagireddy, member of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Paddy had nearly reached the harvest stage and so the loss is horrifying, he added. 

Senior officials visiting the flood affected areas said that several crops received extensive damage. East Godavari district collector Neetu Kumari Prasad confirmed that crops in about 1.42 lakh hectares was damaged in the district. She put the initial loss to Rs 248.68 crore. Crops in 13674 hectares were found in sheaves and another 96295 hectares were waterlogged, she said. Prasad estimated that the loss from discolouration and sprouting of paddy to Rs 26 crore. 

"The paddy and cotton fields are submerged in rain water. We have lost everything," said Munga Venkateswara Rao, a farmer of Machilipatnam. Paddy in thousands of acres in Machilipatnam, Gudivada, and Vijayawada divisions was found soaked in rain water. 

"We were expecting a bumper crop this year but incessant rains over past two days affected more than 70% of crops and it is very difficult for us to recover from this shock," said Kodali Sambasiva Rao of Bantumilli in Krishna district. 

According to West Godavari district collector Siddharth Jain, it would take few more days to get a proper loss estimate. 

Krishna district collector M Raghunandan Rao said paddy farmers were the worst hit by Helen cyclone. The crop spread over 2.5 lakh acres in the district was damaged. Paddy farmers in Guntur district too fear heavy losses as the rain continued to lash the area in the last two days.