Rains wash away hopes of Odisha farmers

KENDRAPARA: Unseasonal rain over the last three days in the coastal district has poured cold water on the hopes of a large number of farmers who were expecting a bumper paddy yield.

The torrential rain has reportedly affected paddy crops in vast tracts of agriculture fields, leaving the farmers worried. Complaints of crop damage have been pouring in from many villages across the district.

Amit Jena, a farmer of Garapur village on the outskirts of Kendrapara town, said, “We are cursing the bad weather as the rain has damaged our ripe paddy crops. Many farmers tried their best to harvest the rain-soaked crops by holding umbrellas. But the efforts yielded little result.”