Paddy farmers bear the brunt of cyclone

The incessant rains accompanied by heavy gales under the influence of the Michaung cyclone caused heavy damage to crops in six districts.
Horticulture crops including papaya, banana, mango, tobacco, chilli, and vegetable crops were badly damaged. Banana plants fell to the ground in hundreds of acres in Kadapa district. The betel nut leaf crop was also damaged in the Kadapa district.
The worst affected by the Michaung cyclone are paddy farmers. The paddy crop was damaged in lakhs of acres, according to sources in six districts. The paddy farmers in these districts were preparing for harvest and the incessant rain damaged the standing crop. The farmers who have already harvested their paddy crop were seen saving their produce by wrapping plastic sheets.
The farmers were seen trying to save their paddy crops from being drenched in rainwater. In all these districts, paddy crop harvesting was being taken up and the harvested paddy produce was left at the fields for drying purposes. The farmers did not have time to shift the harvested crop to safer places. Tobacco, groundnut and chili crops were damaged in hundreds of acres in Prakasam district and they were seen marooned.
In the Konaseema district, banana crops were damaged while the paddy crops on thousands of acres were submerged in rainwater. Civil supplies minister Karumuri Nageswara Rao visited some of the fields affected by the cyclone storm at Duvva and Varigedu villages in the Tanuku constituency. He interacted with the farmers and assured them of purchasing the soaked paddy.