Medak’s farmers devastated after hailstorms and heavy rains damage paddy crop

By T.Karnakar Reddy

After seeing a bumper crop, paddy farmer Kummari Bovaiah, a resident of Rustumpet in Narsapur mandal, was expecting a profit of at least Rs 1.5 lakh from seven acres this Yasangi. But fate had different plans for him.

The crop on one acre dried up due to lack of water a month ago. The rest? Exactly the opposite happened. Just as he was preparing to harvest the paddy on Friday, heavy rains and hailstorms struck the village, causing devastating damage for Bovaiah. From expectations of 32 quintals of paddy per acre, Bovaiah now says he won’t get even two quintals per acre as more than 90 per cent of the paddy grains fell on the ground due to the rains. Instead of harvesting the crop, which he considers a waste of money, the farmer is now preparing to put the crop on fire.

Farmers of Rustumpet, Sitharampur, Moosapet, Chinthakunta, and Narsapur villages  have incurred heavy loss due to heavy rains and hailstorms  that hit the paddy crops

Speaking to Telangana Today, Bovaiah (51) said he never ever seen such heavy hailstorms in his five decades of life. This is not the story of just Bovaiah. Almost every paddy farmer in Rustumpet, Sitharampur, Moosapet, Chinthakunta, and Narsapur villages have almost similar stories. Bovaiah, who owned only one acre, had taken seven acres from landlords on rent by paying Rs.20,000 per acre. In addition to the rent, he spent another Rs.30,000 on each acre towards seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, transplantation charges and others. He would usually get Rs 70,000 from each acre, making some Rs.20,000 profit from each acre after six months. However, the hailstorms pushed him into losses of nearly Rs.2.10 lakh with his six months of work going in vain.

Another farmer Yerla Mallesha, who cultivated paddy on 5 acres of land at Sitharampur, has also suffered similarly. These farmers were seen crying inconsolably at their agriculture fields for the last two days. Bovaiah and Mallesha wanted to marry off their daughters this summer. However, the rains have dashed their hopes. Fearing that they may take any extreme decision after they suffered losses due to unseasonal rains, several relatives and friends are visiting their homes and comforting them.

Meanwhile, tenant farmers like Bovaiah demanded the Congress government to extend input subsidy to tenant farmers by enumerating the crop loss accurately. He recalled how Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had promised during the election campaign to extend all benefits to tenant farmers. Farmers in Siddipet and Sangareddy have also suffered similar losses due to the hailstorms.

Agriculture officials were seen carrying out the enumeration on Friday and Saturday.

This article has been republished from The Telangana Today.