Farmers Suffer Damage To Crops Planted On 55,000 Hectares From Hailstorm and Winds
May 8, 2020 | Investopaper
The hailstorm and strong winds have caused more grief to the farmers who are in trouble after the lockdown. The hailstorm has damaged about 55,000 hectares of agricultural crops including Bara and Parsa areas of Gandaki Province and Province 2. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the strong winds in the first and second week of April have damaged vegetables, wheat, banana, mango and other crops.
Gandaki State was affected the most with the agricultural crops planted in 23,153 hectares. In the second, 22,022.5 hectares in Bara, 7,221 hectares in Parsa and 2,150.5 hectares in Sarlahi were damaged, according to the ministry. Chitwan, Rautahat and other areas have also been damaged. However, the ministry said that it was difficult to collect the details due to the lockdown.
Chief of the Agriculture Knowledge Center, Jitendra Yadav, said that wheat planted on 13,253 hectares in Bara was damaged. Similarly, vegetable cultivation in 4,082 hectares has also been affected. According to Yadav, vegetables have been cultivated in 5,443 hectares in Bara. Based on this, about 75 percent of the vegetables have been damaged. 70 percent of maize crop has also been damaged. He said that 4,029 hectares of maize was damaged. Out of the fruit farming, 658.5 hectares have been damaged.
The cultivable land in Parsa is 46,360 hectares. Of them, strong winds, rain and hail on April 19 have damaged 7,221 hectares, said Yadav. In Parsa, wheat planted on 6,350 hectares has also been damaged. According to the Center, 530 hectares of vegetables, 198 hectares of maize and 143 hectares of mangoes were damaged.
In Sarlahi, 2,150.5 hectares of agricultural crops have been damaged. According to the Agriculture Knowledge Center Sarlahi, 1,000 hectares of maize crop has been damaged in Bagmati Municipality and 500 hectares in Barhathwa Municipality. Maize, vegetables and mango have been damaged in 175 hectares of land in Lalbandi Municipality. According to the knowledge center, mangoes planted in 1,500 hectares in other municipalities have also been damaged.
Spokesperson of the Ministry Hari Bahadur KC informed that the relief from the hail and wind damage will be provided by the municipality and the state government. He said that the farmers who have insured their crops can also get compensation from the insurance company. Rajneesh Mishra, information officer of the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, State 2, said that further investigation is underway into the damage. He said that they will move ahead by formulating procedures on compensation and relief to the farmers.
