The Odisha cyclone warning has renewed fears of crop losses across the state, with the India Meteorological Department forecasting heavy to extremely heavy rainfall and winds exceeding 100 kmph from October 27. The likely landfall location has not yet been specified, while farmers in coastal districts are still dealing with damage caused by repeated monsoon rain and flooding.
The weather system is expected to move towards the west-central Bay of Bengal near the Andhra Pradesh coast by October 28, according to the IMD bulletin cited by the Times of India. The forecast has raised concern among farmers whose paddy and vegetable crops are standing in fields after a difficult monsoon season.
Pabitra Martha, a farmer from Kanas in Puri district, said he had been forced to re-transplant paddy after repeated flooding. He said his paddy and Rabi crops were now under threat from the approaching weather system and that the safety of his family and livelihood was a concern.
Farmers growing vegetables are also worried about further financial losses. Sunil Mohanty, who cultivates two acres in Barang on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, said heavy monsoon rain had already damaged his vegetable crop. He said he had borrowed money for winter cultivation and could face additional losses if the forecast rainfall materialises.
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology said paddy in many coastal areas was at the flowering or panicle initiation stage. Heavy rain and strong winds can damage crops at this stage, although paddy also requires substantial water during the growth period and normal rainfall alone may not cause major losses, he said.
The agriculture expert advised farmers to harvest crops that are 80% to 85% mature and ensure that excess water can drain from their fields. The advice reflects the immediate operational challenge facing cultivators: protecting ready produce from wind and rain while preventing waterlogging in fields where crops remain at an earlier stage.
The state government and the IMD have separately issued advisories asking farmers to harvest ready crops, store produce safely and arrange drainage in agricultural fields. The warnings also cover a wide area. The IMD has issued a red warning for extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Gajapati and Ganjam districts on October 28.
Orange and yellow warnings have been issued for several coastal and interior districts, including Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore, for the three-day period beginning October 27. The IMD had not identified the likely landfall location in the bulletin cited in the report, leaving district-level preparedness and drainage measures as the immediate focus for authorities and farmers.
