Farmers in the State have suffered crop damage in a whopping 85.6 lakh acres during the 2011 kharif season, 44 per cent of the total 1,94,65,000 acres area cultivated.
About 51.54 lakh farmers, including 48.33 lakh small and marginal ones, have lost the investment almost completely.
In a report submitted to the State government recently, the Department of Agriculture has put the requirement of input subsidy, compensation for lost inputs like seed, fertilizer and pesticide, at Rs. 1,886 crore.
The agriculture authorities said that prolonged dry spells and severe power cuts were reasons for the extensive damage of food and commercial crops across Andhra Pradesh.
The damage was estimated at 70 per cent and above in most of the districts.
“Except in Nellore, West Godavari, Prakasam and Nizamabad, the damage caused by the nature and power cuts in 17 districts was massive,” a senior official of the department told The Hindu .
Crops like cotton, groundnut, paddy, maize, redgram and castor bear the brunt mostly.
Crop holiday
Farmers in East Godavari district, however, voluntarily went on a crop holiday protesting lack of remunerative price to their produce, particularly paddy produced in the previous season.
Even at conservative estimates, the loss of investment (input costs and labour charges) at Rs. 15,000 per acre would be over Rs. 17,100 crore. “The production loss is two to four-fold to the investment,” the official explained.
Based on the department’s report, the State Government was learnt to have sought about Rs. 3,000 crore as assistance from the Centre to help the farmers in distress.
Worst-hit districts
The districts which suffered maximum crop damage include Anantapur (18.19 lakh acres), Mahabubnagar (14.04 lakh acres), Adilabad (8.1), Kurnool (7.72), Nalgonda (5.83), Medak (5.63), Warangal (4.89), Khammam (4.69), Ranga Reddy (3.2), Chittoor (3.16) and Karimnagar (2.92).