The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Crops worth Rs. 3.5 crores destroyed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Crops worth Rs. 3.5 crores destroyed

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, MAY 11 . The rain and high-speed winds that swept the State last week caused an estimated loss of Rs. 3.50 crores in the agriculture sector in Ernakulam district.

Major food and cash crops, including banana, coconut, tapioca, pepper, rubber, arecanut, coffee, cashewnut, cocoa, betel, nutmeg and vegetables, suffered heavy losses in the rain.

The final figures are yet to be consolidated, as inputs from only 15 of the 90 Krishi Bhavans in the district have arrived so far, according to the Principal Agriculture Office, Kakkanad. With many officials still away on election duty, it is expected to take at least one more week before the final figures of the loss are estimated.

The worst-hit were the farmers in the Pindimana area in Kothamangalam block, Piravom block, Perumbavoor block, Poothrikka block, near Kolencherry, Chellanam area in the Palluruthy block, Keezhmadu block, Alangode block and the Njarakkal block. Farming-related construction activities in many areas were stalled due to inclement weather.

As many as 2 lakh banana trees and 50,000 rubber trees were estimated to have been damaged in the rain. More than 6,000 arecanut trees and over 1,000 coconut trees, both yielding and non-yielding, were also damaged. About 6,600 standards of pepper were destroyed, according to preliminary reports. The estimated loss is around Rs. 9.99 lakhs. About 39,000 hectares of tapioca cultivation, worth Rs. 1.95 lakhs, and 5.5 hectares of vegetable cultivation were destroyed. Five hundred coffee plants, 40 cashewnut trees and 120 cents of betel vine cultivation also suffered losses.

Nutmeg cultivation, which enjoys a prime position in the district, was hit with the destruction of about 3,200 trees, causing loss of over Rs. 1.80 lakhs.

Though no official reports have arrived from the paddy sector, paddy crops, especially in the low-lying areas of the district, suffered extensive damage, according to the Principal Agriculture Office sources.

Ironically, the distribution of the drought-relief amount to the farmers by the Agriculture Department is not yet over.

An amount of Rs. 90.3 lakhs of drought- relief funds had been distributed and more funds were awaited, according to the Agriculture Department officials.

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