Kerala floods hit paddy, banana, spices in 45,000 hectare of farmland, says Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak

New Delhi: Floods in Kerala have damaged paddy, banana, spices and other crops in 45,000 hectares of farmland, Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak said on Monday. The state government has been asked to submit a detailed proposal seeking central funds to provide relief to the growers, he said. [caption id=“attachment_5046431” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file image of flood-affected areas in Kerala. PTI[/caption] “The state has estimated damage to 45,000 hectares of farm fields. We have also got the same report. More than crops, the damage to houses and other infrastructure is more in Kerala,” Pattanayak told PTI. Paddy has been affected in 20,000 hectare and even banana plantations has been hit badly. Spices like cardamom have been affected in 2,000 hectares or so, he said. As per the official data, the area sown to paddy crop in Kerala stood at 57,000 hectares till last week in the current season, lower than 62,000 hectares in the year-ago period. The sowing of paddy, the main Kharif crop, begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from July and harvesting is done from October onwards.