Cyclone Murasu | Paddy farmers in Telangana fear crop damage amid high market prices

Paddy crop in Sangareddy District. | Photo credit: MOHD ARIF

The forecast of rain under the influence of cyclonic storm Murasu (War Drum) in various parts of Telangana from Monday to Wednesday (November 2-4) is unnerving farmers whose paddy and cotton crops are in various stages of cultivation.

According to the farmers, when the paddy fields are soaked with rain and drops, the machinery used to harvest the rice has to be hired for some time, leading to spending more money. Soaked products must be dried, which can lead to weight loss.

Manpower also needs to be hired to drain the water from the damaged rice crops. And those in the pre-bloom stage could suffer more damage.

High prices

Currently, paddy crops are in various stages – depending on the time of sowing – from harvest, near harvest to pre-flowering stage. The cyclonic storm poses a threat to farmers at a time when they are getting relatively higher prices for the harvest – ranging from ₹ 3,500 to ₹ 4,500 per metric quintal of fresh produce, against around ₹ 2,900 (MSP and ₹ 500 bonus for fine rice) of the dried crop earlier. Cotton crops nearing harvest can suffer similar damage.

Farmers in Telangana paddy fields are worried about rain forecast

Sankranthi Narasiah, a paddy farmer of Lalapuram village, Konijerla mandal, Khammam, said his and other crops around him are in different stages — from pre-flowering to tillering. “Wind and rain at this stage will cause us heavy losses,” Mr Narsaiah said. Khammam is one of the six districts expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Monday (November 2, 2026). Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Nagarkurnool and Wanaparthy are the remaining five. Muralidhar Reddy of Balanagar in Mahabubnagar said rain for standing crops is bad news and will lead to damage.

Charging the rice harvester

Donthu Rambabu, joint secretary, Telangana Rythu Sangham, said it costs ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 to hire machines for an hour to harvest rice. “When the crop gets soaked by rain, the laths can fall into the rainwater that stagnates on the farms. A machine that takes one hour to harvest grain per hectare will take two hours. This means farmers have to spend double the amount. Besides, the grains have to be dried, which results in some weight loss,” Mr Rambabu said. M Sudhakar Reddy, vice-president of the Sangham, said that grains that change color are priced lower.

Agriculture Department officials said they have warned farmers and directed concerned officials to provide them with resources such as tarpaulins to protect the harvested grain. As the demand for paddy rice has increased, relatively less agricultural production reaches the rice shopping centers; they are collected directly from the farms by private individuals.

Tarps used to dry the paddy crop

Mahabubnagar district marketing director G. Balamani said several farmers spread the grains on tarpaulins instead of dumping them on roads for drying.

Published – 01 Nov 2026 21:09 IST