BHUBANESWAR: Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) on Monday asked collectors of five districts to conduct assessment of crop damage due to the recent unseasonal rain and submit a report regarding this by December 18.
Official sources said 19 blocks of five districts like Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack and Jajpur has received more than 50 mm rainfall during December 9 and 10 due to a depression formed over the Bay of Bengal.
SRC Bishnupada Sethi in his letter to the collectors said the untimely rain might have affected the standing crops in these blocks. Depending on local variations, he said, damage to crop might have occurred in some other areas.
He urged the officers to conduct necessary assessment through field inquiry by the joint teams of officials of Revenue, Disaster Management and Agriculture department. "If the team finds crop damage to the extent of 33 per cent or above, they should report it to the SRC office by December 18," said Sethi.
The collectors were asked to provide a list of affected farmers along with their bank account details for disbursement of agriculture input subsidy.
Sethi also told the officials not to include the crop affected by drought or pest attack or previous unseasonal rain this year during their assessment.
Crop area to the extent of 4.07 lakh hectares in 19 districts was previously affected by the unseasonal rain during third week of November. The government has already provided funds to the collectors of concerned districts for disbursement of agriculture input subsidy to the affected farmers, said the officer.
Kakatpur block of Puri district had received the highest rainfall of 116 mm during the two-day unseasonal rain. Among others, Gop and Puri blocks of the district had also received more than 100 mm rainfall.
Revenue and disaster management minister Maheswar Mohanty on Sunday told reporters at Puri that the state government would compensate farmers for crop loss due to untimely rain.
According to the Odisha Relief Code, farmers will receive input subsidy of Rs 6,800 per hectare in rainfed/non-irrigated areas and Rs 13,500 per hectares in assured irrigation areas for sustaining crop damage of more than 33 per cent. Now the farmers get input subsidy for a maximum of two hectares.
Recently, the state government has released over Rs 718 crore from the state disaster response fund as agriculture input subsidy for the farmers affected by drought, pest attack and untimely rain, official sources said.
Official sources said 19 blocks of five districts like Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack and Jajpur has received more than 50 mm rainfall during December 9 and 10 due to a depression formed over the Bay of Bengal.
SRC Bishnupada Sethi in his letter to the collectors said the untimely rain might have affected the standing crops in these blocks. Depending on local variations, he said, damage to crop might have occurred in some other areas.
He urged the officers to conduct necessary assessment through field inquiry by the joint teams of officials of Revenue, Disaster Management and Agriculture department. "If the team finds crop damage to the extent of 33 per cent or above, they should report it to the SRC office by December 18," said Sethi.
The collectors were asked to provide a list of affected farmers along with their bank account details for disbursement of agriculture input subsidy.
Sethi also told the officials not to include the crop affected by drought or pest attack or previous unseasonal rain this year during their assessment.
Crop area to the extent of 4.07 lakh hectares in 19 districts was previously affected by the unseasonal rain during third week of November. The government has already provided funds to the collectors of concerned districts for disbursement of agriculture input subsidy to the affected farmers, said the officer.
Kakatpur block of Puri district had received the highest rainfall of 116 mm during the two-day unseasonal rain. Among others, Gop and Puri blocks of the district had also received more than 100 mm rainfall.
Revenue and disaster management minister Maheswar Mohanty on Sunday told reporters at Puri that the state government would compensate farmers for crop loss due to untimely rain.
According to the Odisha Relief Code, farmers will receive input subsidy of Rs 6,800 per hectare in rainfed/non-irrigated areas and Rs 13,500 per hectares in assured irrigation areas for sustaining crop damage of more than 33 per cent. Now the farmers get input subsidy for a maximum of two hectares.
Recently, the state government has released over Rs 718 crore from the state disaster response fund as agriculture input subsidy for the farmers affected by drought, pest attack and untimely rain, official sources said.
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