2ND LEAD (CORRECTION)

Rain, cyclone 'Nisha' cause severe damage to Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 December 2008, 20:34 GMT]
More than 65,411 farmer families along with more than 30,000 agriculture labour force depending on the farmers have been severely affected by the recent rains, floods and cyclone ‘Nisha’ in Jaffna peninsula, Jaffna District Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA), S. Sivakumar said in his report. A loss of around 1,350.67 million rupees in the Maha cultivation (2008-2009) and nearly 274.6 million rupees in highland crops, in the peninsula has been estimated by the DDA.

The Maha paddy cultivation was devastated by the torrents of rain that lashed the peninsula on November 25 and 26, the report said.

19,370 metric tons paddy harvest expected in the Maha cultivation has been completely destroyed at loss of around 494 million rupees.

Highland crops like onion, tobacco, corn, beans, grains, yams including local and foreign greens and vegetables have been destroyed.

5,600 mango trees, 2,300 fruit trees have been uprooted in the cyclone besides thousands of Murungkai trees being broken.