Alappuzha farmers to get Rs 32cr additional aid

Thiruvananthapuram: Post-flood, paddy fields in Alappuzha are in for a bumper yield. Bolstered by assistance from state government that went beyond crop loss compensation, agriculture department officials and farmers are excited over higher yields from paddy fields which are now being harvested. There is additional joy for farmers who had gone through a lot in 2018 as state government has allotted Rs 32 crore, in a first of its kind allocation from state disaster response fund as compensation for desilting paddy farms which were inundated in flood.
“This year we are harvesting 7-8 tonnes per hectare from every farm when it was 5 tonnes per hectare in previous years. 2018 has been very hard for the farmers, but we are going through one of the brightest harvest seasons,” said Alappuzha principal agriculture officer Beena Natesan.

Silt had to be removed from 27,050 hectares of farmland after flood. “It will be the first of its kind allocation in the state. Every hectare would be given Rs 12,200. Individual reports have been prepared in Krishi Bhavans and amount shall be given to farmers who had worked so hard to prepare the land for farming again,” said Natesan.

Farmers had to shell out a huge sum for removal of silt and sand from paddy fields which remained under water for a long time. The land then had to be levelled and prepared for farming, a task which cost huge amount for debt-ridden farmers in the area.

One of the factors that contributed to the higher yield was removal of acidity from soil. “The acidity of soil which had affected crop yield in the past came down drastically after flood. This accounts for the bumper yield,” said Natesan.

Since August, the farmers prepared land and did farming in 30,500 hectares, which was 7,000 hectares more than the earlier years. The procurement is also going on a steady rate by civil supplies. Officials said that anticipating high yield, procurement rate has also been enhanced and farmers are getting cash immediately.

The government had earlier given Rs 13,500 per hectare for crop loss after flood. Another allocation was given for bund repair. Paddy was the worst affected crop in flood in Alappuzha, Thrissur, Palakkad and Kottayam. As per the data prepared by the department of economics and statistics in 2015-16, paddy farming is done in 31,724 hectares in Alappuzha which is second to Palakkad, which has a paddy farmland measuring 81,120 hectares. The total loss estimated during flood in Alappuzha in terms of agriculture was Rs 743.65 crore.