Central team tours drought-hit Jalna; sees scorched soybean, withered sweet-lime orchards and dry Galhati dam

Jalna: Against the backdrop of drought in the district, a central inter-ministerial team on Friday, October 9, visited fields at Nanegaon in Badnapur taluka and around Kingaonwadi and Jamkhed in Ambad taluka. The team looked at how the lack of rain had affected crop growth and water availability and heard farmers' difficulties.

The team, led by Muktanand Agrawal, joint secretary in the Union department of agriculture and farmers welfare, included NITI Aayog adviser Dr Jaspal Singh, livestock officer Dr Sakshi Bhadauria of the animal husbandry and dairying department and Sunil Kumar Dubey, deputy director of the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre. MLA Narayan Kuche, state agriculture secretary Parimal Singh and collector Ashima Mittal were among those present.

At Nanegaon the team saw scorched soybean. Around Kingaonwadi it saw withered sweet-lime (mosambi) trees, a dried-up farm pond and ginger and cotton crops. At Jamkhed it looked at a pearl millet crop and a dry well. The team also visited the dried-up Galhati medium project in Ambad taluka and learnt about the water supply of the villages that depend on it, the fall in irrigation and the problems of 106 families who make a living from fishing there.

Farmers told the team about crop losses, rising costs and the lack of water for irrigation, and asked for an objective assessment of the damage, compensation and measures to increase water availability. 'The inspection is done; now don't make us wait for help,' farmers at Jamkhed said. The team will report to the government based on its field visits and conversations with farmers.

Sources: Pudhari; Mahasamvad