Unseasonal Rains Damage Crops in Northern Telangana

Unseasonal rains and hailstorms battered northern Telangana districts over the past two days, causing extensive damage to standing crops and orchards just weeks before the harvest season, officials reported on February 25.

The downpours, which began on February 23 and intensified through February 24, affected areas including Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Medak, Sangareddy, Siddipet, Mahabubabad, and Nirmal. Farmers in these regions saw paddy, maize, red chilli, and vegetable crops flattened or soaked, while mango orchards suffered losses from hail and strong winds. In Mahabubabad district, an elderly couple, Banoth Anki and Laxma Naik, who had leased five acres and invested around 500,000 rupees in chilli and paddy cultivation, expressed despair as they tried to salvage their ruined harvest. "We toiled hard, waking early and going hungry for days, only to be ruined by the rains," Anki said, her voice breaking as she attempted to dry the soaked produce by hand. "How will we survive now?"

Similar scenes unfolded in Nirmal, where Chinnolla Raju, a farmer from Potaram village, watched his maize fields and mango trees get destroyed. "This year, we were expecting a good harvest, but first...