Gale destroys plantain farms in Erode, Mudumalai

For the last two months, the farmers were desperately hoping for summer showers to save their drying plantain crops. And they felt relieved when rain poured heavily for the last two days. But, what the farmers didn’t expect was the strong winds that accompanied the rain. 

The summer gale left a trail of destruction with plantain crops grown in several acres in Mudumalai Hills and Erode getting destroyed. 

Despite the lack of rain, farmers in Mudumalai have managed to raise ‘nendran’ crop by purchasing water.  But, the strong wind has dashed their hopes as over 5,000 plantain crops got uprooted. It just drizzled, but the speedy wind caused plantain crops to fall flat in Mudhukuli, Kolimalai and Kallancheri areas in Mudumalai on Thursday night. 

Also, several areas were plunged in darkness as electric cables got snapped in winds. Around 25 farmers in Erode district suffered severe loss as more than 10,000 plantain crops raised in Anthiyur and surrounding areas were damaged. 

“As the monsoon failed, we procured water from tanker lorries to save the crops. I was expecting a bumper harvest, but all my hopes were blown away in strong winds. About Rs 2 lakh worth banana crops in my farm were destroyed in the gale,” said Duraisamy, a farmer from K Mettur in Anthiyur area. 

Farmers, who have met with a loss due to winds, sought the revenue department to estimate the damage and duly compensate them for it.