Indian mango farmers in the surrounding areas of Rangareddy and Chevella are staring at a massive 30% loss of crops due to Tuesday night’s thunderstorm that destroyed mangoes ready for plucking in hundreds of acres.
Shamshabad, Shadnagar and other surrounding regions of the city were the worst affected while the crop was not affected in Bibinagar, Vikarabad, Medak and surrounding areas.
“Hundreds of small farmers are affected. While those who have leased out their farms to harvesters will not be affected, others who wanted to harvest on their own will be hit hard. In the next few days there will be a drop in the prices of mangoes and after that there will be surge due to the decline in supply,” said Imtiaz, a mango farmer and exporter from the city.
A preliminary report pegged the damage at 938 acres with 237 farmers affected due to the loss of standing crops in the Rangareddy district. “The final report will come after a joint inspection by Revenue and Horticulture Departments,” said Babu Rao, Deputy Director of Horticulture Department of Rangareddy district.
According to a Telangana Horticulture Department official, the loss has to be more than 33% for the government to consider emergency measures for helping out the farmers.
source: thehindu.com
