As Karnataka has been continuously receiving rains for the last one month, particularly while harvest of crops is in progress, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah urged the State Government to conduct a survey on damage to crops for providing relief to farmers.
In a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the Congress leader said farmers had sown seeds on 78 lakh hectares during the kharif season in 2021. According to the Agriculture Department, standing crops on 11.22 lakh hectares were damaged by the end of October. But the department has not updated the damage to crops in the more recent rains in November, he said.
Owing to continuous rains, different crops in different regions of Karnataka have been damaged. The Centre had paid compensation of ₹2,981.15 crore to Karnataka for crop loss during 2019-20 and 2020-21. However, it had not released money for crop loss in 2021-22, the former Chief Minister said. He wants the State Government to conduct a survey of crop loss to provide compensation to farmers for the financial loss they have incurred.
