HYDERABAD: The devastation wrought by the floods in the state is slowly surfacing with the receding of the waters in the affected districts of
Krishna, Guntur, Kurnool, Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda. After the initial drought and the subsequent deluge, paddy output in the state is not likely to be not more than 50 lakh tonnes, a far cry from the estimated 85 lakh tonnes this kharif season. This, in turn, would bring down the overall estimated paddy production of 115 lakh tonnes this year by almost 30%, sources said.
As a result, Andhra Pradesh is set to face a major food crisis in a few months time. "There is bound to be a major fall in paddy production because of the devastation that the floods have caused. How much this can be overcome would depend on what the state does with regard to the rabi crop production," said C H Hanumantha Rao, noted economist and former member of economic advisory council to the prime minister.
"The loss to horticulture crops alone would be around Rs 400 crore," said Pankaj Dwivedi, principal secretary, food processing. Expecting a good monsoon rainfall and not anticipating the floods, the state government had increased the rice production figures for this year. In fact, the administration of Krishna district - the rice bowl of AP - had raised the production targets by 20% this year from the previous year in its agriculture action plan, while the size of the cultivable land was increased from four lakh hectares to five lakh hectares.
"We were expecting production of paddy grains to the tune of 18 lakh tonnes during this kharif in Krishna district. But it looks like all our plans have gone awry as there were drought conditions for most part of the kharif and now the floods," admitted A Srirama Murthy, joint director, agriculture. Agriculture department sources said farmers faced a similar situation in 2006 when drought and floods occurred. "But the loss was on a lesser scale as the rabi crop had saved the ryots and the farm production was 163 lakh tonnes," a source said.
Paddy crop suffered the maximum damage in the Krishna delta region. A preliminary estimate has put the loss at Rs 1,250 crore to the agriculture sector. "Even before the farmers could pick up the pieces after being hit by the severe drought, the first in the last five years, came the worst floods in over a hundred years which will aggravate the rice woes of the state," said D Ramakrishnaiah, ex-agriculture officer in Kurnool.
"The government will deploy special teams in the affected mandals to calculate the crop losses. We will be getting a clear picture by the next fortnight," a senior agriculture officer of Krishna district said.