PANAJI
The intensity of the current spell of rains as the monsoon retreats has cast a pall of gloom in Goa's farming community as it threatens to damage their ready to harvest paddy crop while also disrupting their harvesting operations.
Some farmers who had already harvested their crop before the current spell of rains hit the State are currently with their backs to the wall trying to prevent damage to the paddy which often germinates when moist rendering it useless.
Director of Agriculture Sandeep Fal Desai admitted that the current weather could be a threat to the standing paddy crop.
He said if the rains that started as the monsoon retreats continue for some more days, the State's paddy cultivation may be affected.
On the other hand, this rain will be beneficial for vegetable farming practiced in the State's hilly regions, he added.
Several paddy cultivators who spoke to The Goan said that they are indeed overwhelmed with fear and anxiety about their crops due to the current wet weather.
Fal Desai meanwhile said the crops of the paddy cultivators will be severely damaged if it rains for another few days with this same intensity.
The rains if they persist are also a real threat to the paddy crop where harvesting has not yet begun across the State, Fal Desai said.
The late rains are proving to be a double-whammy of sorts for Goa's dwindling tribe of paddy cultivators after many of them suffered destruction of their crop following the July flooding of fields.
The Agriculture department has already compensated thousands of such Goan farmers for the damage to their crops due to the July flooding. Nearly Rs 4 crore were disbursed to the farmers on the eve of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in September.
