Trichy: Around 82.2 hectares of banana crops have sustained significant damage due to unseasonal strong winds over the past few days in Thanjavur district. A. M. Shahjahan, an IUML MLA from Papanasam constituency and Minister for Minorities Welfare, inspected the damaged banana plantation on Tuesday.
Extent of Damage
Officials reported that a total of 728.7 hectares of banana crops have been cultivated in the Papanasam (432.9 hectares) and Thiruvaiyaru (295.7 hectares) areas. Gusty winds, coupled with marginal rainfall in recent days, have uprooted and partially damaged standing banana crops, some of which were ready for harvest.
Survey and Compensation
“The survey will continue for four more days to assess the damages among banana cultivation in Papanasam and Thiruvaiyaru. The chief minister will be informed about the extent of damage caused, and adequate compensation will be provided to the affected farmers,” the minister stated.
The agriculture and horticulture departments have been instructed to simplify the process of applying for crop insurance to cover more farmers in the region, he added. “We received representations from farmers including constructing infrastructure to dry paddy, marketing centres, and a sales centre for floriculture crops. Inspections will be carried out to materialize the requests through the CM’s interventions,” he said.
District collector R. Revathi will review the damage assessment report.
