Natural calamities ruin horticultural crops in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: Unexpected rains, strong winds, and hailstorms have created havoc among farmers. These natural calamities that occurred in the first week of April ruined horticulture crops heavily in Andhra Pradesh. As per the Horticulture Department’s assessment, 677 hectares of crops across 79 villages and 35 mandals in nine districts have been damaged.

Fruits that were severely hit were banana, papaya, muskmelon, sweet orange, and watermelon. However, the YSR Kadapa district had seen the worst damage; it is expected that crops on over 463 hectares were spoiled. Heavy losses were also reported in several other districts like Prakasam, Ananthapuramu, Annamayya, Nandyal, Kurnool, Sri Satya Sai, NTR, and Anakapalli.

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Banana was the worst-affected crop, with damage reported on 580 hectares, affecting 596 farmers. Papaya was damaged on 75 hectares, muskmelon on 5.83 hectares, sweet orange on 1.92 hectares, and watermelon on 3.04 hectares. In addition, vegetables on 10.41 hectares and drumsticks on 0.40 hectares were also damaged.

The Andhra Pradesh government has released a relief package. The government has assessed the total input subsidy at over Rs 2.20 crore. Minister for Agriculture K. Atchannaidu said that banana farmers will get Rs 35,000 per hectare as an input subsidy and an extra Rs 75,000 per hectare for re-cultivation. It means farmers will receive a total support of 1.10 lakh per hectare; extra benefits will be received by insured farmers.