#Paritosh Pal
Key points:
Crop damage: Approximately 1200-1400 hectares of Kharif paddy cultivation severely affected.
Government response: The Agriculture Department is providing seeds and implementing direct seed sowing to aid recovery.
Focus on border areas: Special attention is being given to regions like Tongibari Raghna Gram Panchayat.
The North District Agriculture Department has initiated a special initiative to address the plight of farmers whose crops have been severely damaged by sudden heavy rainfall.
In an exclusive interview, Dr. Dhruvajyoti Pal, Deputy Director of the North District Agriculture Department, shared that a total of 1764 hectares of land was cultivated with Kharif paddy.
The crop yield was promising, and the harvest was expected to be completed by September. However, the excessive rainfall (approximately 337 mm) in the third week led to sudden flooding, submerging all agricultural lands initially.
Although the water receded from many areas after three to four hours, an estimated 1200 to 1400 hectares of land suffered significant damage.
The Director of the Agriculture Department visited the affected areas on August 26 to assess the flood situation and assured that appropriate measures would be taken to support the farmers.
Lands in the border areas, including Tongibari and Raghna Gram Panchayat, have been severely affected.
To mitigate the losses, seeds are being distributed through community nurseries from the Churaibari Seed Center and other nurseries.
Additionally, seeds from the National Seed Certification Agency will be provided to the affected farmers in the coming days.
These seeds will be planted using the direct seed sowing system. The Agriculture Department is making concerted efforts to restore the damaged agricultural land through comprehensive planning, Dr Pal said.
#Paritosh Pal may contacted at enewstime2017@gmail.com
(Tripura, Tripura News)