A large stretch of Mumbai-Bangalore Highway near Kolhapur is inundated due to flooding of Panchganga river. (Express Photo: Ashish Kale)Farmers are staring at massive crop loss as floods inundate swathes of farmland in the flood-affected regions of Maharashtra. According to initial surveys by the state Agriculture Department, farmers in the state may face crop loss across 34,000-35,000 hectares in the five districts of Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Dhule and Jalgaon.
While standing crop of paddy, sugarcane and soyabean in Jalgaon and Dhule have been affected, a final figure with the cumulative crop loss across affected districts will be available once the water levels recede and the surveys are completed.
Incessant rains and the resultant release of large amounts of water from dams have submerged large tracts of land in these districts. Over 1.3 lakh people have been displaced after floodwater damaged their homes. Many farmers, along with their livestock, have taken shelter in makeshift camps. Several areas in the five districts remain inaccessible, which poses a challenge before authorities as they try to carry out relief operations.
Sugar millers and farmers in the districts of Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur are concerned about substantial damage to both the standing crop as well as the newly-planted crop. These three districts account for over 3 lakh hectares of the state’s average 10 lakh hectare cane plantation. It is estimated that almost 45-50 per cent of the cane area in these districts is under water.
“The standing cane, which would have gone for crushing in the season set to start in November this year, has been under water since the last four-five days. The roots of the plants are submerged in water and they will start rotting. The silt deposition may also lead to root formation in the joints of the half-submerged cane, which will result in lower sucrose content in the cane,” said Dr D G Hapase, agriculture consultant and founder-director of Dyansheel Foundation.
All these factors may result in significantly lower availability of cane in the upcoming crushing season.
Millers also said the cane planted in June-July has been washed away and farmers will be forced to plant cane again later in the year. “So, cane availability for the next season will also be affected,” said a miller from Kolhapur.
Meanwhile, cane farmers are also worried about the lack of insurance coverage for their crop. In Maharashtra, cane is not a notified crop under the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme, so farmers will not be able to claim any payouts. However, officers of the sugar commissionerate and the agriculture commissionerate ruled out any significant losses in cane production. “The silt that will be deposited will end up increasing the per acre tonnage for the crop,” said the officers.
