Rains ravage crops, benefit fishermen in coastal areas

HYDERABAD: Coastal farmers have lost almost all their crops in the ravaging floods, and now they fear stagnant water might add to the woes of soil fertility.

Agricultural fields lack a drainage mechanism, which resulted in rainwater accumulation. “As a result, standing crops, including ripened rice, tomato, paan and other vegetables have been damanfed,” said Gulab Shah, a farmer and community activist of Keti Bunder, Thatta district.

“I have lost my vegetable crops because of flooded fields,” he said, adding farmers could not save a single acre of their lands during this rain disaster.

“Before rains, we were expecting to recover losses incurred in the past due to similar disasters like persistent drought, scarcity of water, locust attacks and COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions for a long time. But now, it seems we will face more troubles,” he lamented.

Reports gathered from community activists have revealed that some farmers started harvesting rice before the rains, as the crop was ready in Ghora Bari, Garho and other parts of the coastline. But the second spell of heavy rains that started on August 24, 2020 disrupted the move, pushing farmers into a helpless situation.

Only a few aware farmers had harvested their paddy crops and saved it by shifting it to their houses for threshing at a later date after rains. Traders are now exploiting these farmers by offering half the price set by the government. Due to a lack of interest on part of government authorities, and absence of checks and balances, traders offer Rs700-Rs800/maund to farmers, while the government set Rs1,500/maund for rice.

Coastal farmers have been facing one disaster after another amidst this negligent government attitude.

Like rice, paan is also a major cash crop for the coastal farmers. However, paan crops have been destroyed by the heavy rains too. Farmers calculate that at least 80 percent paan crops have been destroyed by rain-related problems. Paan being a sensitive crop cannot afford to sustain in flooded fields, which has ruined its leaves and plants.

Only some paan-sheds situated on higher grounds have remained safe. The remaining sheds on hundreds of acres of land are still under water after the August 24 rains.

“Quite recently, when some farmers tried to drain out water from their fields using rented generators, natural high tides created problems for them, sending waves of saline water to destroy the fertile fields,” some activists informed.

According to farmers, increasing sea intrusion has already taken a major chunk of the fertile lands in coastal areas, forcing communities to vacate their ancestral villages for safety reasons. Mass migration due to sea intrusion has been continuing for a long time along the sea, sending frightening messages to the people residing in neighbouring areas.

But the reports show that fishermen families are happy after rains. They are expecting to get more fish catch in routine trips in the open sea. Many have also saved rain water in their makeshift reservoirs located near villages.