Farmers tense as cyclone threat looms large over Krishna delta

Vijayawada: The farmers of Krishna delta are in a grip of fear over the cyclonic storm in Bay of Bengal. Though the State government has announced that 70 per cent of harvesting was over in the limits of Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and Prakasam districts under Krishna delta, the farming community says 50 per cent of the crop is still in the fields.

Actually the paddy yield is much better compared to the last three years but the farmers are facing sleepless nights over the cyclone threat. According to reports, the paddy was cultivated in 14 lakh acres in Krishna delta. The Krishna district has a lion’s share with five lakh acres.

According to official sources, 14 lakh metric tonnes of paddy production is estimated in Krishna district alone. This is stated to be record production in the district. But the farmers are worried following the cyclone warning and weather conditions. The officials earlier gave a cyclone alert to the farmers stating that the cyclone could hit the coast between Krishna and West Godavari districts.

The officials of Agriculture and Panchayat Raj departments conducted a special meeting on cyclone relief operations by suggesting the farmers to complete the harvesting in next two days. The cyclone may hit the coast between Machilipatnam in Krishna district and West Godavari district on December 7. The higher officials directed the field level officers to supply 15,000 tarpaulin covers for Krishna and West Godavari districts. Already the district administration has distributed 7,000 tarpaulin covers to farmers.

The officials have also informed the farmers to complete the paddy harvesting process from Srikakulam to Guntur districts on war footing basis. A model farmer, S Mallikarjuna Rao, said the cyclone hits the seacoast near Krishna district once in every two years. The paddy yield is very high in the current kharif season, he said and added that the farming community was tense following the cyclone threat.