Excess rains, floods cause damage to crops on over 9.6 lakh hectares in Karnataka
BENGALURU KARNATAKA 17/09/2025 : The crop damage areas in Afzalpur assembly constituency, visited by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after meeting with officials regarding most damage has been caused by the continuous heavy rains in Bidar, Kalaburagi, Koppal and Yadgir districts.
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TH
Excess rainfall and flooding in northern parts of the Karnataka has caused damages to crops on over 9.6 lakh hectares.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who carried out the aerial survey of flood affected districts such as Kalaburgi and Yadgiri on Tuesday, said according to preliminary survey crops have been damaged on 9,60,578 hectares. Of this, standing agriculture crops have been affected on nearly 8,88,953 hectares and horticulture crops on 71,626 hectares.
While the excess rains and flooding has resulted in widespread damage to the standing kharif crops, the delayed withdrawal of monsoon is also set to pose challenges to the farmers in the region.
In Kalaburgi, Siddaramaiah said as per NDRF guidelines dryland farmers will get a compensation of ₹8,500 per hectare and an additional relief of ₹8,500 from the State, totalling ₹17,000/hectare. Similarly, farmers with irrigated farm lands affected by excess rains and floods will get a relief of ₹25,500 per ha (₹17,000 per ha as per NDRF and ₹8,500 additional relief from State). Farmers facing losses with perennial crops will get a relief of ₹22,500 per ha plus an additional relief from the State of ₹8,500 per ha.
Above average rains
The South-West monsoon has delivered an 8 per cent cumulative surplus across the country over the four month period of June-September. However, almost all districts in North Karnataka have received a cumulative surplus rainfall ranging from 39 per cent to 79 per cent, much higher than the country average. Per the Indian Meterological Department data, Vijayapura district received 79 per cent excess rains, followed by Bagalkote (60 per cent), Bidar (55 per cent), Kalaburgi (33 per cent), Yadgir (41 per cent), Raichur (41 per cent), Belagavi (44 per cent), Vijaynagar (39 per cent), Gadag (45 per cent) and Dharwad 9 per cent.
Basavaraj Ingin, President of Karnataka Pradesh Red Gram Growers Association, said standing kharif crops like red gram (tur), black matpe, green gram, cotton, soybean among others are hit by the rains and also the floods.
“About 90 per cent of the crops have been impacted. It is a total crop failure for the farmers this year in the region. There’s nothing left that the growers could harvest,” Ingin said. North Karnataka is a major kharif pulses, soybean and cotton producing region.
Farmers also fear that the likely delayed withdrawal of monsoon will pose a challenge to the remaining standing crops. “Though the rains have slowed down a bit, there is a rainfall forecast in a fortnight. There’s a concern that it could trigger the wilt disease in tur,” Ingin added.
Farmers, who have faced the losses due to excess rains and flooding, should be compensated immediately, Ingin said. “We are demanding that the farmers should be given a relief of ₹25,000 per acre immediately,” he added.
Published on September 30, 2025
