Unseasonal rain & hail damage crops on 1.14 lakh hectares in north Maharashtra

Nashik: Unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms caused widespread crop damage across north Maharashtra, affecting more than 1.14 lakh hectares and impacting around 1.65 lakh farmers between March 19 and April 2, with Nashik district emerging as the worst affected, state agriculture department's primary assessment reports showed.Agriculture officials said repeated spells of heavy and unseasonal rain on March 19, 20, 29, 30, 31 and April 1-2 proved particularly destructive for standing crops, with hailstorms in some areas further aggravating losses for farmers.Nashik alone accounted for the maximum damage, with crops spread over 58,928 hectares affected in the district, affecting 81,641 farmers from 259 villages. Onion cultivation suffered the most, with losses reported on nearly 44,000 hectares, while wheat, maize, vegetables, bajra, pomegranate and banana crops were also damaged.In the district, Baglan taluka was the worst hit, recording crop losses on 16,818 hectares, followed by Malegaon taluka (8,293 hectares).In Jalgaon district, unseasonal heavy rain damaged crops across 27,294 hectares, affecting 38,053 farmers, with banana, maize and bajra among the worst-hit crops and fruits. Dhule district reported crop losses on 26,458 hectares involving about 43,669 farmers, while Nandurbar recorded comparatively lower damage, with crops on 1,301 hectares affected and 1,752 farmers impacted.In the aftermath of the damage, cabinet ministers Girish Mahajan, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dada Bhuse visited rain-hit areas in Nashik district to assess the situation. They directed the agriculture department to expedite the panchanama process to ensure timely assistance to affected farmers. The officials said assessments were being completed at the earliest so that eligible farmers could receive financial relief, with final compensation figures to be decided after detailed surveys and verification.