Over 8,000 farmers in the district have incurred crop loss on their non-irrigated land owing to unseasonal rains last month, revealed a report from the district agriculture department. As per the report, most of the farmers with non-irrigated land are from Ajara taluka where around 3,474 farmers have been affected. A total of 629 hectare in Ajara was affected due to the rains. "Panhala and Shauwadi taluka are the second and third most-affected talukas where 1,512 and 1,185 farmers have been affected, respectively," the report said. According to the report, 12 talukas in the district will need Rs 1.20 crore to distribute required aid to the farmers. The report added that around 852 farmers with irrigated land have also incurred losses due to unseasonal rains. "The area of the irrigated land, however, is little compared to the non-irrigated one. Irrigated area of 330 hectare has been affected," the report read. The agriculture department has demanded Rs 49 lakh as funds to compensate the farmers. Overall, according to the report, 9,067 farmers have incurred losses and an area of 1,935 hectare has been affected across the district. The agriculture department has demanded a total funding of Rs 1.69 crore from the state government. Dyandev Wakure, district superintendent agriculture officer (Kolhapur), said the agriculture land with 33% or more losses were found to be eligible for the aid. "The beneficiaries will be provided compensation according to the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) guidelines. The aid will vary depending on land irrigation," he said. Most of the farmers in the district opt for sugarcane, while other crops such as rice paddy, jowar, millet (nachani), groundnut, and soyabean are also preferred, and all these crops have been damaged due to the rains. Source - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com