Cyclone Jawad Caused Huge Loss to Paddy Farmers in Odisha's Coastal Districts

Cyclone Jawad's heavy rains have dashed the hopes of paddy farmers in Odisha's coastal districts, who were anticipating bountiful crops this year.

Thousands of hectares of standing paddy have been swamped as a result of the torrential rains that lashed at least 10 of Odisha's 30 districts from December 3-5, 2021.

The post-monsoon tropical cyclone was downgraded to a depression without causing significant damage to Odisha's infrastructure.

"While the cyclone spared major damage in Odisha, it brought rainfall over the coastal districts, inflicting enormous damage to standing crops that were ready for harvest in several regions," a senior officer said.

The authorities in the rain-stricken districts began assessing crop damage on December 6. "We have urged the district authorities to submit crop loss reports within a week" Odisha's special relief commissioner, Pradeep Jena, said.

Odisha's Revenue Minister, Sudam Marandi, stated that the government will announce compensation for affected farmers after assessing the damage in accordance with the state relief code.

Districts such as Ganjam, Gajapati, Jagatsinghpur, Khordha, Puri, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, Kendrapara, and Cuttack, known as Odisha's "rice bowl," have been severely affected.

"I had harvested two acres of land, and the paddy was in a threshing yard. I couldn't keep it in a secure location. The rains damaged it," claimed Santosh Pradhan, an Aska farmer.

"We don't know how we'll survive because all our hard work has been washed away in the storm," said Niranjan Mohanty, another farmer in Paradip, the area which received the most rain of 201 mm on December 5.

Several farmers, including  Pradhan and Mohanty, experienced the brunt of the cyclone's ferocity in the rain-stricken areas, putting an end to their hopes for a large crop this season.

Farmers were spotted straining to drain out the rain water from cultivated areas on December 6, as the sun came out after several days of rain.

Unseasonal rain in various coastal districts of the state in the first week of November damaged the short-term harvested paddy.

In Kharif 2021, paddy was grown on approximately 3.5 million hectares of land in Odisha.

It is not only paddy farmers that are affected. Chilli and other vegetable producers have also experienced significant losses as a result of the rains.