Bhubaneswar, Aug. 6 -- For farmers in Basudevpur block of Odisha's Bhadrak district, the receding floodwaters have brought little relief. Instead, they have exposed the scale of devastation left behind by two successive floods that destroyed paddy and vegetable crops, and hopes of a successful farming season.

In Mirigia village under Sudarshanpur panchayat, hundreds of hectares of agricultural land remain waterlogged after floodwaters stagnated in the fields for more than 15 days. The prolonged inundation has caused paddy saplings to rot, while vegetables such as brinjal, okra, cowpea, cucumber and bitter gourd have been completely ruined.

Farmers said they had already suffered losses in the first flood and invested again to prepare fre...