Kathmandu, April 2

Along with human casualty and injuries, the devastating windstorm that hit different villages in Bara on Sunday night has also affected agricultural sector in the region.

A preliminary report prepared by the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoLMAC) of Province 2 states that the windstorm damaged crops and fruits across 3,736 bighas of land across 21 villages in Bara.

While crops including wheat, maize, vegetables, red lentils and fruits that had already been planted in 1,505 bighas of land in Bara have been completely damaged, the disaster has partially affected planted crops and fruits across 2,231 bighas of land, as per report.

As it is the harvesting season of wheat in Tarai, the windstorm has primarily affected wheat that was ready for harvest.

Vijay Chandra Jha, secretary at MoLMAC of Province 2, informed that the report released by the provincial ministry is a preliminary document and the actual impact on the agriculture sector due to the windstorm can be ascertained only after a few days as a number of teams have been deployed in the field to collect data.

Though the windstorm had affected crops across 21 villages in Bara, villages like Suvarna VDC (Parsurampur), Devtaal VDC, Suvarna VDC (Charmohana), Balirampur (Kalaiya) and Pacharauta VDC (Benauli) are among the top five affected villages.

As per the preliminary report, the windstorm has affected agricultural products across 504 bighas of land in Suvarna VDC, Parsurampur (214 bighas fully affected and 290 bighas partially).

Similarly, the windstorm affected agriculture products in 402 bighas of land in Devtaal VDC (160 bighas fully affected and 242 bighas partially affected).

Similarly, the disaster has affected crops and fruits across 262 bighas in Suvarna VDC, Charmohana (fully in 120 bighas and partially in 142 bighas). Likewise, the windstorm has also affected planted crops, vegetables and fruits across 259 bighas in Balirampur, Kalaiya (fully in 107 bighas and partially in 152 bighas).

Meanwhile, windstorm has affected planted agricultural products across 219 bighas in Pacharauta VDC, Benauli (fully in 75 bighas and partially in 144 bighas).

Along with destruction in the agriculture sector, the windstorm has also killed and injured hundreds of livestock. However, the government is yet to collect data on this front. The federal government has already dispatched six separate teams to collect data on the agriculture loss due to the windstorm in Bara and Parsa.