Cyclone Murasu: Naidu seeks Centre's interim aid as 1.86 lakh farmers hit

Cyclone Murasu damaged crops on 1,43,122 hectares in Andhra Pradesh and hit 1,86,063 farmers, according to the state government's preliminary assessment, and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, 6 November 2026, asking for immediate interim financial help from the Centre. The state puts the total preliminary loss from the cyclone at about Rs 1,919 crore, of which farm crops account for Rs 874.96 crore and horticulture for Rs 337.10 crore. A full assessment will follow once floodwaters recede, the state said.

When the cyclone approached the coast, the state's agriculture department advised paddy and chilli growers to drain their fields and hold off spraying. The new figures show how much of the standing kharif crop, sown in the monsoon and close to harvest, was lost anyway. Paddy, cotton and maize took the heaviest damage in the early count, and those are the crops on which many small farmers in coastal and central Andhra depend for their main income of the year.

The size of the loss has grown as officials reached flooded villages. The first count of 52,459 hectares was made while water still stood in fields; the later preliminary assessment is nearly three times larger. Officials had warned that an accurate crop-loss figure would take another 48 to 72 hours after the water receded, and the state says the final, detailed report will follow within 15 days. That final report is what the Centre normally uses to decide disaster relief.

For farm households, two kinds of support matter most now. The Chief Minister said crop insurance payouts and input subsidies, the government's help to buy seed and fertiliser for the next sowing, would help farmers recover what they had invested. The state government had already released Rs 37 crore for immediate relief. Interim central assistance, if granted, would add to that before the final assessment is done.

Peepals calculation: Farm and horticulture losses together come to Rs 1,212.06 crore (874.96 + 337.10), about 63% of the Rs 1,919.59 crore total in the letter (1,212.06 ÷ 1,919.59 ≈ 0.63). The agricultural loss works out to about Rs 61,000 per damaged hectare (Rs 874.96 crore ÷ 1,43,122 hectares) and about Rs 47,000 per affected farmer (Rs 874.96 crore ÷ 1,86,063). The damaged area in the later count is about 2.7 times the first estimate (1,43,122 ÷ 52,459 ≈ 2.73). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Affected farmers wait for the field-level count to be completed, which decides who is listed for input subsidy and insurance claims. Village markets in the worst-hit districts are likely to see less paddy, cotton and maize arriving in the coming weeks.

Long-term: The scale of the request to the Centre will be fixed by the detailed report. A slow payout can push small farmers to borrow for the rabi sowing, while timely input subsidies help them replant quickly.

Who is affected: paddy, cotton, maize and horticulture farmers in Andhra Pradesh, especially in Krishna, Bapatla, Guntur, Palnadu and Nandyal districts; farm workers; fishermen; and families whose houses were damaged.

What to watch next: the state's detailed damage report to the Centre, due within 15 days, and the Union Home Ministry's decision on interim assistance.

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