More than 1,600 acres of crops were damaged, affecting 549 farmers in Ranipet district due heavy rain caused by cyclone Michaung.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture said areas like Nemeli, Thimiri, Arcot, Kaveripakkam, Wallajah and Sholighur witnessed inundation of agricultural lands where paddy, banana and groundnut had been cultivated for the second season.
Accompanied by Ranipet Collector S. Valarmathi, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R. Gandhi, who is also MLA for Ranipet assembly constituency, inspected the affected farming areas and temporary shelters in the district on Tuesday.
Among the most affected regions, Thimiri near Arcot town faced huge crop loss on 119.12 acres, mostly paddy, followed by Kaveripakkam (92 acres) along Palar river, Arakkonam (52 acres) and Sholinghur (51 acres). Apart from paddy cultivation, 600 acres of horticulture crops were affected due to rain. Brinjal (50 acres), Bhendi (65 acres) and green chilies (40 acres) were major crops that were damaged during the cyclone.
Affected farmers said that damage to their crops were a major setback to them. They had availed of the government’s scheme for getting seeds at subsidised rates. They want the State government and relevant organisations to provide support and assistance to them.
Of the 369 PWD maintained irrigation tanks in the district, 101 tanks have reached its full capacity, mostly covering farming regions like Nemili, Arakkonam, Sholinghur and Walajah blocks in the district, PWD officials said.
