Water shortage: Crop loss pegged at Rs 724.5 crore

Times Of India, May 3, 2017
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Water shortage has brought about crop damages to the tune of Rs 724.5 crore this summer, agriculture minister V S Sunil Kumar said in the assembly on Tuesday.

The estimates were based on preliminary findings and the damage figure could go up once final tabulation is done, the minister said.

Water scarcity has damaged crops in about 41,592.3 hectares across the state.

As many as 62,897 farmers have been affected. The worst hit were crops such as vegetables, paddy, banana, arecanut, coconut and pepper.

With the summer season wreaking havoc in the farming sector, the agriculture department has been framing an action plan for mitigating the impacts of long-term climate change on the sector.

"The action plan will look into various aspects, including farming methods which require. The plan is to restructure farming practices to align with drought situation triggered by climate change," said Sunilkumar.  


He said the government was planning to begin 44 'coconut villages' in the state.


The idea was to encourage farmers to productive coconut trees. Each unit in one village will have 250 hectares of coconut cultivation. It would increase coconut production in the state, Sunil Kumar added.

As per central statistics, total coconut production declined to 33.70 lakh in 2014-15 from 41.07 lakh in 2013-14.

Coconut crop covered 7.93 lakh hectares in 2014-15 compared to 7.98 lakh hectares in 2013-14, said the minister.

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