Unseasonal Rainfall in Telangana, damages many crops

Hyderabad, Apr 03: An Unseasonal rainfall has stormed over the last couple of days wreacked in 16 districts of Telangana damaging paddy, maize, mango and vegetable crops in 37,816 hectares.

While the extent of the loss is yet to be assessed by the authorities, chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao spoke to chief secretary SK Joshi on the untimely rains and crop loss and asked the officials to quantify the losses.

As per preliminary information, 30,000 hectares (ha) of paddy, 7,000 ha of maize, 700 ha of mango, 64 ha of vegetables, 50 ha of lemon and two ha of papaya were damaged.

Senior agriculture officials said the damage was extensive due to hailstorm and gales.

Crops in Nalgonda, Khammam and Siddipet districts suffered the maximum damage.

The rain and hailstorm have left farmers dejected as paddy, maize and mango crops were set for harvest next week. "The paddy crop bore the brunt in Nalgonda, Khammam and Medak districts," agriculture commissioner M Jagan Mohan told media. He said the agriculture department began a preliminary survey of damage to crops in the affected villages.