Farmers in Salcete face huge losses as rains destroy crops

Preliminary reports have pegged the total area under paddy cultivation submerged by flood water to around 1,500 hectares across the taluka.

Margao Zonal Agriculture Officials led by Sheriff Furtado and his team have been on the job, inspecting the fields and assessing the damage caused by the rains.

Large tracts of paddy fields at the Raloi-Tolem and Vaingonnode Lake at Curtorim lay submerged under water for days now, destroying the paddy sown in these fields.

Chairman of Raloi-Tolem and Vaingonnode Addi Tenants Association, Curtorim said he had taken up the matter with the agriculture department to inspect and assess the losses suffered by the farmers.

“Our farmers have sustained losses with the crop submerged under rainwater for days now. Agriculture officials have requested the farmers to submit details along with the Krishi cards for compensation,” he added.

Curtorim Bio-diversity Management Committee Chairman, J Santan Rodrigues said large tracts of paddy have been destroyed in Curtorim by the incessant rains.

Paddy sown at the Raloi-Tolem and Vaingonnode Addi have been destroyed as the field lay submerged by the water,” he said.

Margao Zonal Agriculture Officer Sheriff Furtado said Curtorim village has suffered badly on account of the waterlogging and submersion of the fields underwater.

He said farmers from the villages of Verna, and Nuvem, besides Seraulim and Arlem-Raia, have complained of the paddy lying submerged underwater for days now.

He said field agricultural officers are visiting the affected villages to assess the situation and to explain to the farmers to submit their compensation claims.

“Our field officials have been visiting the village for a first-hand account of the flooding of the paddy fields and subsequent destruction. Preliminary reports so far show that around 1500 hectares of paddy have been affected by the heavy rains. We are assessing the situation”, Furtado added.