Farmers are the ones who are left high and dry in every natural disaster. And cyclone Fani is no exception. The deadly cyclone Fani made a landfall in Puri on Friday and has badly affected the farming community and animal husbandry sector in the state.
The high-cost Rabi season crops that were ready for harvesting is destroyed by the strong winds of Fani. And very soon, the standing paddy, moong, oilseed crops & betel plantations were on the grounds flooded in knee-deep water. Farmers, who took pains to raise the expensive moong and oilseed or til crops after taking finance are currently in a state of shock. They are just thinking of how to pay back the incurred loan.
A betel farmer from Balianta in Khurda district says “I took a loan of Rs 80, 000 to grow betel crop. Now the entire crop is spoiled. The farming community is at wits end now. How will we pay back the loan amount? The only option left for us is taking up some labour work outside the State”.
This is not only the case in Balianta. The neighbouring Balipatana block has also seen huge destruction of betel plantation. The tale of large-scale crop damage is visible all along the coastal districts of Puri, Cuttack, Khurda and Jagatsinghpur.
Not just betel or any other Rabi crop, many horticultural crops such as banana, coconut in Puri district have seen huge damages. These profitable crops, although are expensive, give a financial cushion to the cultivators in the district. Horticultural farmers in the district are in a dilemma now as they incur huge debts to cultivate these horticultural crops.
Cyclone Fani has broken the spine of growers. In addition the animal husbandry sector in the districts of Khurda, Puri and other coastal areas has witnessed large-scale damage affecting the fish farming ponds & poultry sector.
Source - OdishaTV
