Madhya Pradesh is planning to disburse Rs 40 bln to farmers whose crops have been severely hit by floods or pest attack in 2020-21 (Jul-Jun) kharif season, a senior official with the state government said.
"This year damage is reported over 39.9 lakh ha (3.99 mln ha). The relief amount (of 40 bln rupees) is just double of what the state has provided to the farmers last year when the damage was reported across 60 lakh ha (6 mln ha)," the official said.
The state has recently completed a crop damage survey with the help of the Centre. Of 52 districts, 29 were hit by these natural calamities, he said. Vidisha, Dewas, Sehore, Shajapur, Harda, Sagar, Damoh and Raisen have been hit the most.
Typically, the central government provides relief for 33% damage on the crop, but the state government has decided to provide compensation on even minimum 25% crop damage, he said. The state has also demanded financial support of around 24.9 bln rupees from the Centre as the damage is seen over 33% across 3.7 mln ha, the official said.
Soybean, moong, urad, tur, cotton and groundnut are among the major kharif crops grown in the state, and soybean, moong and urad crops were hit the most. Heavy rains in August and September and wide-scale pest attacks have lowered 10-15% yield in the soybean crop in Madhya Pradesh, according to a survey released by the Indian Institute for Soybean Research.
In Madhya Pradesh, farmers have sown soybean across 5.8 mln ha so far in 2020-21 (Jul-Jun), up 6.7% from a year ago, farm ministry data showed. Madhya Pradesh is the largest grower of soybean and among the leading producers of pulses.
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