Cyclones Arnab and Murasu damage over 13 percent of paddy crops in Krishna district

Paddy crops across 13.21% of the total sown area in Krishna district suffered damage due to two cyclones, Arnab and Murasu, which hit the coast between October 28 and November 3.

Crop Losses And Impact

Krishna District Agricultural Officer Padmavathi stated that officials have nearly finished assessing the agricultural losses and will submit a report to the State government in a day or two for fund allocation. Cyclone Arnab, a very severe cyclonic storm that crossed the coast near Narsapur in West Godavari on October 28, caused more damage than Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu, which hit near Ongole on November 2. Paddy is the major crop in the district and is grown across 1,61,655 hectares. Cyclone Arnab damaged paddy on 18,197 hectares across 24 of the 26 mandals, while Cyclone Murasu damaged 3,160 hectares of standing crop across 21 mandals, with coastal mandals facing greater severity alongside major damage to banana crops.

Compensation And Relief

Farmers who faced at least 33% crop damage will receive a compensation of ₹25,000. Over 35,000 farmers in the district qualify for this relief amount. Among the eligible farmers, 30,562 were affected by Arnab and 5,264 were affected by Murasu. Meanwhile, coastal villages in Nagayalanka mandal reported no damage because many farmers could not sow paddy due to water scarcity and canal water dependence during the kharif season, which lowered the overall intensity of damage as noted by local farmer Venkateswara Rao.

Context

Cyclonic storms frequently affect coastal regions during the post-monsoon months, bringing heavy rainfall and strong winds that pose major challenges to standing agricultural crops. State governments routinely conduct loss enumerations following natural disasters to disburse financial relief to affected farming communities.