Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced that the State government will consider giving a relief assistance to the farmers for crop damages following a recent bout of unseasonal rains.
At an event held in Bharuch district on Saturday, Rupani informed that the government will conduct a survey to assess the crop damages based on which the farmers will be provided relief assistance.
Gujarat’s important rabi crops includes wheat, cumin, gram, coriander, vegetables and mustard. As per the State Agriculture Department data, as on December 7, total rabi sowing is reported at 34.34 lakh ha — which is about 50 per cent more than last year’s 22.94 lakh ha. Saurashtra’s main winter crops include cumin, onion, chana. In Junagarh district, horticulture farmers expressed concerns about the pest infestation in mango trees.
This year, gram cultivation has reported 207 per cent rise at 7.07 lakh ha, over last year’s 2.29 lakh ha. Saurashtra is the main producer of gram with Junagadh, Jamnagar and Rajkot districts having top sowing areas, which were affected with the unseasonal rains.
Coriander cultivation is reported at 1.15 lakh ha, which is about 146 per cent more than 47,027 ha reported last year. Saurashtra is the main coriander producing region with 1.13 lakh ha of the spice area in the region.
Cumin seed cultivation is reported at 3.81 lakh ha (2.77 lakh ha). North Gujarat and Saurashtra are key cumin seed growing regions in the State.
Last year in November, the Gujarat government had announced a relief package of ₹3,795 crore for the farmers facing crop damages due to unseasonal rains in October and November 2019. The move was aimed at benefiting about 56.36 farmers from 18,369 villages in the State.