TIRUCHY: Gale destroyed several thousand acres of ready-to-harvest banana crop in Thanjavur on Monday, and the farmers have appealed to the government to assess the damage and provide compensation.

Banana cultivation is undertaken in several places, including Thillai Sthanam, Perumpuliyur, Kaduveli, Panaiyur, Achanur, Vadugakudi and Konerirajapuram near Tiruvaiyaru. The harvest of bananas has been going on for the past few days.

In this scenario, on Sunday night, there was a heavy downpour coupled with strong winds for a few hours, during which the banana crop was damaged. The farmers on Monday removed the damaged crop.

“Banana has been cultivated on at least 2,000 acres in Tiruvaiyaru and surrounding areas. Most of the farmers cultivated the poovan variety, and most of them are ready for harvest, and in some places, the harvest commenced, but almost all the crops had been damaged due to the sudden gale,” Mathiyalagan, a banana farmer from Vadugakudi, said.

He also said that the farmers were spending at least Rs 1.5 lakh on banana cultivation, and so they have lost almost all the crop. They sought the officials to visit the spots and enumerate the damage, and help them get compensation.

Meanwhile, the Joint Director (Horticulture) Venkatraman said, there was a report of strong wind in the Tiruvaiyaru area and around 1,000 banana trees were damaged.

“We will visit the spot in a couple of days and send a report to the district administration with the recommendation for compensation,” the Joint Director said.