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Cyclone has pushed Orissa's agricultural economy at least a decade back

George Iype In Bhubaneswar

The super cyclone that devastated Orissa last month has damaged nearly 1.5 million hectares of crop areas and will considerably reduce India's winter agricultural production from the projected record levels.

State agriculture ministry officials and expert teams from the Cuttack-based Central Agriculture Research Institute, who have conducted preliminary surveys of the cyclone-ravaged districts, said the typhoon has swept away Orissa's share of the winter rice output.

The cyclone hit 12 coastal districts that constitute the grain bowl of Orissa. "These 12 districts were the backbone of the state's agrarian economy as main crops like paddy and kharif cultivation like groundnuts, pulses and vegetables were growing in plenty there," Orissa's agriculture production commissioner R M Senapati told rediff.com

He said the worst-hit districts are Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Cuttack and Kendrapara "where harvesting of rice remains a dream now."

Stating that the cyclone has pushed Orissa's agricultural economy at least a decade back, he said nearly 1.5 million hectares of total crop area were wiped out by the tidal waves.

Agriculture accounts for more than 60 per cent of Orissa's gross domestic product, and more than a million families, who lived by farming, have been uprooted by the cyclone.

State government estimates peg the crop damage and land loss at around Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion).

The total crop area of Orissa is around 2.5 million hectares where paddy, groundnuts, pulses, vegetables, coconut, cashew and betel are grown. The region also had a thriving diary industry that met nearly 80 per cent of the state's diary needs. As nearly 400,000 cattle perished in the cyclone, the diary industry too has been destroyed.

According to the Central Agriculture Research Institute, Orissa was expecting a record rice harvest of at least seven million tonnes this year. But after the cyclone, the institute estimates the crop production would be less than three million tonnes.

"The cyclone that hit Orissa will considerably cut India's winter crop output as the state contributed nearly 10 per cent of the domestic rice output alone," an institute official told rediff.com

The central agriculture ministry had projected early this year that the country's winter harvest would be around 75 million tonnes compared to the 71 million tonnes last winter. Last year, Orissa's winter rice output was six million tonnes.

"The rice bowl of Orissa has been destroyed by the cyclone. So it is better not to speak about the harvest now," the institute official added.

The state government, that is now engaged in the reclamation of land and reconstruction of villages, has assessed that it will need at least Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion) to regain the agricultural land and make it cultivable. Since the sea water ingressed more than 30 kilometres into the agricultural land, it has caused severe saline inundation.

Therefore, Senapati said the state government's efforts now are "to regain the fertility of the soil."

Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang and senior state government officials have already conducted three rounds of talks with central agriculture ministry officials to mobilise finance and expertise to ensure that the villagers get back to farming soon.

The Orissa and central governments have requested commercial banks to provide farmers consumption loans to sustain themselves till April 2000 when the next crop is harvested.

The state government, in collaboration with national and international aid agencies and voluntary groups, have launched an extensive house-building programme for the cyclone-affected farmers.

The Gamang ministry is also finalising an agricultural programme to undertake rabi crop cultivation and to provide farmers with seeds and fertilisers free of cost.

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