Sugarcane, paddy, cashew, casuarina — anything that came in the way of the severe cyclonic storm Hudhud met with the same fate, leaving farmers shell-shocked.
In Munagapaka mandal, where mostly sugarcane is grown, the destructive gale twisted the cane, broke the stalk, and bent it. The crop may appear to be alright for about a month, but rots from within, say farmers, who do not know what to do.
Loss is still being assessed by enumerators.
Apart from the loss, it costs a lot for farmers to remove the destroyed the crop.
Most of the cane grown in the area is used for making jaggery. Even if some of the cane can be used to make jaggery, the units are in no condition to work as there is no power.
Four teams of enumerators are at work and they have to cover 27 panchayats. Estimates have put the damage to sugarcane crop in 2,300 ha and paddy in 230 ha so far. Cashew and casuarina have also been damaged. Cashew groves present a sorry picture with tree after tree uprooted at Nagavaram and other areas.
Compensation Since it will take some time for the loss to the assessed, the government should give some advance compensation for sugarcane-growers based on preliminary information, says Boddeti Prasad, former chairman of RECS.
In the low-lying areas such as Vadrapalli, paddy is still under a sheet of water. All other crops in the area such as sugarcane, coconut, banana, cashew have been fully damaged, says farmer Petakamsetty Ramu Naidu.
Farmers say that a canal that once served as an outlet for water was encroached upon decades ago and it was causing problems every time there was a cyclone.
In the Nagavaram, Rajupeta, Venkatapuram areas alone, cashew crop in 300 acres has been fully damaged, says a farmer P. Ramasuryanarayana.
Hybrid cashew takes four to five years to grow and, from then on, farmers get Rs.60,000 to Rs.70,000 a year. While sugarcane and paddy are yearly crops, casuarina has to grow for five years, getting a one-time income of Rs.1 lakh an acre.
But it also could not withstand the gales. In many villages, power is still being restored.
