Floods devastate Kashmir’s ‘rice bowl’, farmers fear food crisis

Srinagar, Sep 5: Thousands of hectares of farmland across Kashmir have been submerged after days of heavy rains, devastating paddy crops in what is known as the Valley’s “rice bowl”.

Farmers said the floods flattened their nearly ripened crop, washed away fertile soil, and destroyed their only source of income, leaving many on the brink of despair.

Muhammad Shafi Ganai, 40, a marginal farmer from Khudwani in Kulgam, said floodwaters swallowed more than half his three-kanal land.

“Almost 1.8 kanal of my standing crop, which was at the ripening stage, was damaged,” Ganai said. “I would have harvested 24 quintals after September 21. Out of that, I would keep 12 quintals for my family and sell the rest. Now, with 60 percent lost, I can only eat what is left. I won’t be able to sell anything. Tell me where I will go? How will I finance my children’s education, buy food, clothes, or manage other expenses?”

In Batengoo village of Bijbehara, 50-year-old farmer Mehraj Ahmad Mir described the destruction as a “double whammy.”

“In early summer, the crop had withered due to prolonged heat and drought-like conditions. We lost about 20 percent then. Now another 60 percent has been washed away in the floods. This much yield will barely feed my family. We cannot sell a single grain. This is our only source of income,” Mir said.

In Pulwama, the losses were even harsher.

“The floods have caused 80 to 90 percent damage to the paddy crop in our area,” said Naseer Ahmad Mir, a farmer from Pahoo village, whose 10-kanal field was flattened by the swollen Romshi stream. “We invested heavily in fertilizers and labor this season, but all our efforts have been swept away. There is nothing left to harvest.”

RICE BOWL UNDER SIEGE

Officials said water gushed through the plains and villages along streams, wiping out crops in Kulgam and Anantnag – the twin districts that form south Kashmir’s rice bowl.

In Khudwani, Qaimoh, Redwani, Ghat, and adjoining villages, officials estimate nearly 60 percent damage to standing crops.

The Home Shalibugh belt, irrigated by the Nadi canal branching from the Vaishaw river, is among the worst hit.

Known for producing high-quality rice with minimal chemical use, the belt has dozens of villages where even farmers with tiny landholdings manage to grow enough to eat and sell. But this season, farmers say, their livelihood is “washed away.”

“Shamsipora and Subhanpora alone, spread over 200 kanals, have incurred nearly 30 percent losses,” one official said.

In the Bijbehara-Srigufwara constituency, NC legislator Syed Bashir Ahmad Shah said that around 18,000 to 20,000 hectares of paddy have been destroyed.

“This roughly translates to 40,000 kanals. Hundreds of families are devastated,” Shah said.

Kokernag’s Soaf Shali area, known for high-yield hybrid rice, has also suffered nearly 30 percent losses, NC legislator Zaffar Chaudhary said.

POLITICIANS DEMAND RELIEF

Veteran CPI (M) leader and Kulgam legislator Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami, who has long campaigned for crop insurance, called the situation “calamitous.”

“I fear that if nothing is done, farmers in Kashmir, like many other parts of the country, would be forced to take extreme steps,” Tarigami said. “In summer, in the absence of drought pumps and irrigation schemes, several farmers lost their crops. Now floods have devastated them. Jammu and Kashmir is already facing an economic crisis, but now the damage to indigenous rice has broken the back of farmers. At least in south Kashmir, this should be declared a calamity, and farmers must be compensated immediately.”

OFFICIAL ASSESSMENTS

Director of Agriculture, Kashmir, Sartaj Ahmad Shah, said that more than 6000 hectares of paddy had already suffered losses of more than 33 percent, qualifying for compensation under the SDRF and NDRF norms.

“These figures were based on Monday assessments, when the situation was less severe. We have not yet consolidated the full data; the losses could be higher,” he said.

According to estimates, Kashmir may have lost around 40,000 quintals of rice so far.

DECLINING PADDY LANDS

The floods come against the backdrop of a steady decline in paddy cultivation in the Valley.

Official data shows that the total area under paddy in Kashmir has shrunk by more than 11,000 hectares over the past five years – from 1,41,340 hectares in 2020 to 1,30,050 hectares in 2025.

Experts attribute the fall to two interlinked crises: changing weather patterns, including prolonged dry spells, and the unchecked conversion of fertile farmland for construction and commercial projects.

A recent study revealed that Kashmir loses farm produce worth nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore every year to droughts and other climate-related events. Farmers warn that with this year’s flood damage, the Valley’s food security could be at risk.