Paddy farmers in Telananga worried about Yaas impact

Hyderabad: Giribabu, a paddy farmer of Jangaon district, has expressed a major worry of farmers in Telananga: "How to dry our paddy if there is going to be more of rainfall in Telangana?" The weather office has warned that the state is set to face the onslaught of Yaas cyclone through this week.

"Paddy has around 20-25 per cent moisture content. We have to dry it and reduce the moisture to 16 per cent before the state government procures it from us. The moisture content would increase if there is rain. We have to dry the grains for a longer period, which leads to discoloration,” laments Giribabu.

Giribabu adds that the already labour-intensive process of paddy harvesting would only get more complicated with the rains.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Vissa Kiran Kumar from Rythu Swarajya Vedika said, "If the crop gets wet due to the rain, there would be a loss of Rs 500 per quintal."

The rain forecast has left the farmers in deep pain. As per the IMD forecast, “Thunderstorms associated with lightning and at times gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph are very likely to occur at isolated places in Adilabad, Komaram Bheem, Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam and other districts.”

The forecast is for a period from May 24 to 26 and for the 28th too.

The rain is likely to pose a threat to the rabi seasonal crops (winter-grown crops) like maize, paddy, and Bengal gram in addition to mangoes. 

Farmers are already battered by the lockdown. They are hit by the low market prices and many of them are unable to go to their fields due to travel restrictions. The recent heavy rainfall has already played havoc with their crops, and now comes the prediction of more rain due to a cyclonic formation in the Bay of Bengal.  

Every year, the Telangana government has, through the civil supplies department, been procuring paddy from farmers. This year, the government has estimated that there would be about 1.41 crore tonnes of paddy yield. However, so far, the government has procured only 60 lakh tonnes directly.

Paddy procurement by the government has also been impacted by the lockdown.

"Procurement by the state government is very slow this year. So far, it has procured only around 50 per cent of the yield. It is not possible to complete the procurement by May end. Due to the unprecedented rain, it has been difficult to dry the wet crops. There are not enough of the dryers and paddy has to be dried in the open," said Kanneganti Ravi from the Rythu Swarajya Vedika.

Kanneganti Ravi has requested the government to speed up the process of procurement and use government buildings like schools, colleges and function halls to store the paddy and other crops in view of rains.

In addition to that, they have requested for an increase in the procurement centers by 5,000 more. They also want the government to procure other crops like bengal gram as was assured to them.