A consolidated fund will be established for disbursing compensation to farmers for crop loss, Agriculture Minister P. Prasad said on Friday.
Climate change and global warming pose a major threat to the farm sector. Natural calamities, which have become frequent, are endangering agricultural production and economy. A consolidated fund will go a long way in ensuring speedy calamity relief to farmers, Mr. Prasad said, after E.K. Vijayan of the Communist Party of India (CPI) drew the Minister’s attention to the need to help farmers who reported crop loss in the recent rain havoc. The fund, the Minister said, would be instituted in consultation with the Finance Department.
Loss at ₹451.65 crore
Citing the first information reports on crop loss collected from the Agricultural Information Management System (AIMS), Mr. Prasad said crops worth ₹451.65 crore were destroyed in the rainfall-related incidents between October 12 and October 28 in the State.
Topping the list of crops which sustained heavy damage are paddy, banana, vegetables, tubers and rubber, according to the Minister. The Agriculture Department has sped up the process of calculating the loss and disbursing compensation quickly to the farmers, he said.
Control rooms
Control rooms are functional at the Minister’s office, the agriculture directorates and in the districts for providing assistance to the farmers, assessing the damage, and ensuring urgent intervention.
Assistance will be provided from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for removing the sand and silt accumulated in the farm lands and rebuilding bunds, the Minister said.
