Fresh worries for Koraput farmers

KORAPUT: In the wake of a possible cyclonic storm triggered by the deep depression over Bay of Bengal, farmers of the district are a worried lot as standing crops over acres and acres of land may get damaged due to the rain.
Thousands of farmers in the district are yet to harvest their produce that has matured. The untimely rain may destroy all their produce, said Narendra Pradhan, president, district farmers' association.
Apart from the standing crops, farmers are worried over the harvested crops stored either in their paddy yard or at 'mandis' organised by the district administration to procure paddy for the ongoing kharif marketing season (KMS). Several farmers have stocked their paddy at the mandis to be procured by the government. "The administration should make adequate arrangements to ensure that the paddy is not destroyed in the rain," said Pradhan.
The administration has organised at least 107 mandis across the district to procure over 14 lakh quintals of paddy during the KMS since November 6.
However, officials said that all steps are being taken to ensure that the paddy brought to the mandis are not destroyed.
"Paddy brought to the mandis is being procured and millers have been instructed to lift it soon. Adequate number of polythene and tarpaulin sheets have been kept at the respective mandis to cover the stocked paddy at the time of need," said collector (Koraput) K Sudarshan Chakravarthy. According to the collector, the administration on Saturday launched an awareness drive through loudspeakers for the farmers to shift their harvested paddy to safer place and to cover the paddy stocked at paddy yard with polythene sheets.
Though the farmers are being urged to take care of their harvested paddy during the rain, nothing can be done for the standing crops, said sub-collector (Jeypore) Loknath Dalbehera.
Koraput is one of the six districts where the IMD has forecast heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday. The other five districts are Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Kalahandi and Kandhamal.