Maha: 6L hectare land affected by unseasonal rains; farmers to get compensation

Nagpur: Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar on Thursday said farmers will not face shortage of seeds or fertilisers and will get adequate compensation for crop loss due to unseasonal rains after ‘panchnamas’ (assessment) were completed.

He was addressing a press conference after chairing a review meeting of Kharif season preparation in Nagpur division.

“Farmers in the state will not face any shortage of seeds and fertilizers as these have been allocated as per district-wise demand. Compensation to the farmers affected by the recent rains will be given as soon as loss assessment surveys are completed,” a District Information Office release quoted him as saying.

“A total of 46 lakh hectares of land was affected by excessive and unseasonal rainfall between June last year and now. A total of 57 lakh farmers were affected. The state government will provide double the relief set as per National Disaster Relief Fund criteria,” he said.

Farmers in the state will get Rs 12,000 annually since the state government will pay Rs 6,000 over and above the Rs 6,000 paid by the Union government under the PM Kissan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Sattar said.