Keonjhar: With paddy completely soaked rain, farmers in most pockets under Keonjhar block have given up hopes for a bumper crop this year. Paddy crop is lying on farmland at Rajbandh and its nearby area. The crop is likely to sprout in a day or two if the weather doesn’t turn dry, said farmers.
Even paddy reaped and stacked in barnyards has soaked in many villages, farmers lamented.
Farmer Harihar Hembran said, ”We have taken loans and raised paddy. But all our hard work went down in the drain after the rain lashed. We could not retrieve huge amounts of paddy from our farmland. How we will manage things throughout the year.”
Ashok Murmu, another farmer, said, ”I had harvested paddy and stacked it on yard. But I had nothing to cover it. All the paddy has been drenched and damaged. No government officials come to see the damage.”
“I had grown paddy across eight acres, but unseasonal rain damaged it all. We will have to face much trouble in availing government help,” rued Nathuram Besra, a farmer.
Farmers in other areas have also urged the administration to assess the crop damage and pay compensations as soon as possible.
Damage of paddy due to rain was reported from Janadanpur, Raisuan, Padmapur, Gopinathpur, Palaspanga and Parjanpur where farmers have sought quick survey of the loss.
Surprisingly, district agriculture officer Chittaranjan Sahu has not received any report about the damage of paddy crop from anywhere in the district.
“I have no reports of crop damage. There is no problem to paddy in Anandapur area, because paddy is harvested late in the area. Harvesting has almost been over in other areas. If any complaint of damage is received, I will look into the matter,” Sahu assured.
