GUWAHATI, July 11 � Over 50 per cent of the State�s crop area was affected by floods this time. The monetary worth of the loss incurred by the State�s agriculture sector due to floods this time is around Rs 992.43 crore and 10,57,558 farmers� families, including 1,55,989 families of small and marginal and other farmers, were hit by the floods.
To help the agriculture sector recover from the setback due to the recent floods, the State Agriculture Department is going for bigger plans for growing rabi, summer paddy and horticulture crops in the coming season.
This was disclosed by Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka at a press conference here today in presence of the Agricultural Production Commissioner D Jingran and Director, Agriculture, K Barkakoty. Deka said the floods affected a total crop area of 2, 54,935 hectares.
Giving details, Deka said the floods affected Bao paddy worth Rs 3333.96 lakh, Boro paddy worth Rs 6937.81 lakh, early Ahu worth Rs 2689.74 lakh, regular Ahu worth Rs 2640.06 lakh, kharif vegetables worth Rs 43830.90 lakh, jute worth Rs 6732 lakh, Sali seedling worth Rs 3676.76 lakh, transplanted Sali worth Rs 3543.48 lakh, arahar worth Rs 171.43 lakh, sesamum worth Rs 25.84 lakh, maize worth Rs 55.37 lakh and other Rs 25605.36 lakh.
To meet the situation, the State Government is going to seek an amount of Rs 15 crore from the Central Government as contingency fund and the memorandum for the purpose is being submitted tomorrow. Besides, the Agriculture Department is also seeking an amount of Rs 190 crore from the State Disaster Management Authority earmarked for the department under the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), the Minister said.
The Agriculture Department is also providing assistance to the affected farmers at the rate of Rs 3,000 per family per hectare if irrigation facilities are not available in their farmlands, Rs 6,000 per family per hectare if their irrigation facilities are affected and Rs 8,000 per family per hectare if their perennial crops like banana, pineapple, etc., are affected, he said.
Meanwhile, seedlings have been grown on 603 hectares of community nursery land and 57,000 quintals of seeds of Sali paddy, including 1863.77 quintals of hybrid variety, have been distributed during the pre and post-flood periods free of cost among the farmers to bail them out of the situation being created by floods.
Moreover, recently, Rs 1.66 crore has been released to the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of the districts for procuring seedlings from the private parties. On top of this, an amount of over Rs 2 crore would be released for pulverizing the tilling fields by using tractors. The proposal is under process.
Further, the Minister said, another amount of Rs 2 crore would shortly be released for growing early vegetables under the horticulture sector.
Since the State is unlikely to get much money as compensation from the Centre for the loss it has incurred in the agriculture sector, the Agriculture Department is going for bigger plans for growing rabi, summer paddy and horticulture crops in the coming season.
The State budget has earmarked 5 lakh hectares for growing rabi crops this year, against the 2 lakh 9000 hectares of 2011-12 fiscal. Moreover, coverage under the summer paddy will also be enhanced from the existing over 5 lakh hectares, the Minister said.
