Large area of farmland and standing crops were destroyed in Bengal due to cyclone Amphan, that made landfall on May 20 in the state.
The state agriculture department has estimated the losses to be nearly Rs.5,000 crore, across 16 districts in the state. The maximum damage was caused in North 24 Parganas followed by South 24 Parganas, Purba Burdwan, Nadia, Hooghly, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Jhargram and East Midnapore.
The agriculture department officials have stated in their report that due to proper weather forecast, only 15 percent of boro rice was lost and the rest could be saved. Yet, the loss was enormous, and need major interventions, they said. Crops over large areas could be saved as they were removed from the fields before the cyclone hit, following the forecast. Maximum damage has been caused to boro rice in Purba Burdwan.
According to the agriculture department authorities, the cyclone has also destroyed huge farmlands of jute, cereals, nuts and corn. Due to proper warning and liaison between the meteorological department and the agriculture department, announcements were made in time to remove the crops from the fields. Due to this early warning about 85 percent of the crops could be saved.
The state has a farm area of 43 lakh hectare. Boro rice is cultivated over 12.5 lakh hectare across the state. Although the rice could be removed from the remaining areas, the crops could not be saved over nearly 1.9 lakh hectare, all of which was destroyed in the cyclone.
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