Delta crop damage: Report to be filed in two days, says monitoring officer

While samba has been cultivated in an area of 3.38 lakh acre and 2385 acre of crops like black gram, sesame and groundnut were cultivated in Thanjavur district and the continuous heavy rains that lashed till Friday had damaged several thousands of acre of paddy and other crops in the district. 

After continuous appeal by the farmers from across the district, the Horticulture Director and Monitoring Officer of Thanjavur Subbaiyan along with the District Collector M Govinda Rao and agricultural officials commenced the crop damage assessment in the district on Friday that lasted till Saturday. 

On Saturday while inspecting the crop damage at Chakkarasamandam village, the monitoring officer Subbaiyan told the reporters that the crops had suffered a heavy loss in the district. In many places, the samba paddy was ready for harvest and they were damaged by the heavy downpour which led to a great loss for the farmers. The officials are undergoing the assessment programmes and they would complete it by two days and a report would be submitted to the government. Similarly, crop insurance companies are also conducting an assessment in the region. 

Meanwhile, the Tiruchy District Collector S Sivarasu visited the Manikandam area where more than 10,000 acres of paddy damaged in the district. He also assured the farmers to conduct an assessment soon and proper compensation from the government.