The unseasonal rains and hailstorms over the last few days have affected 13,728 hectares of crop in eight districts in Maharashtra, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told the state assembly on Wednesday. Fadnavis said that the area affected included Palghar (760 hectares), Nasihk (2,685 hectares), Dhule (3,144 hectares), Nandurbar (1,576 hectares), Bhusawal (214 hectares) Buldhana (775 hectares), Ahmednagar (4,100 hectares) and Washim (475 hectares).
'The government has not counted affected areas in Vidarbha and also the new districts of Dharashiv and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. Also, despite the state's assurances, NAFED is not buying onion stock from farmers and prices are sliding," said Pawar.
The rains have caused extensive crop damage in the district. Over 35,000 grape farmers being financially affected: grapes on around 978 ha were damaged, of which, grapes on 300 ha were meant for export.
According to timesofindia.indiatimes.com, a grape farmer from Niphad county said the rain will severely affect their harvest. "… due to the damage, I will not be able to even recover the production cost. After two years of the Covid pandemic and because of the higher freight charges last year, I had hoped for a better grape season this year. However, the unseasonal rain has shattered my hopes and I would have to incur heavy losses.”
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com