Mexico says 10% of farmland in flood-hit state totally destroyed

About 27,000 hectares of farmland were totally destroyed in Mexican Gulf Coast state Veracruz, which was hit by Hurricane Karl last month, Mexico's Agriculture Ministry (SAGARPA) said Tuesday.

It accounts for 10 percent of the total farmland in the state.

SAGARPA said in a statement that it had started to pay compensation funds to affected farmers under an insurance policy that covered 719,000 hectares of cropland grown with corn, sorghum, soy, coffee, citrus fruits, banana and sugarcane.

The ministry's decision came after Ignacio Rivera Rodriguez, vice minister in charge of farm development, surveyed areas flooded due to the overflow of the Papaloapan River.

The ministry has also decided to spend 47.1 million pesos (3.76 million U.S. dollars) dredging canals and rivers in the flooded area to lower the water level of the Papaloapan River.

According to the ministry, about 7,000 hectares of the destroyed farmland could be replanted with sugarcane.

Veracruz state is Mexico's largest sugarcane producer which produced some 17 million tons of sugarcane last year.

Source: Xinhua