Crops worth Rs.3,675 crore have been damaged by floods in the Kashmir valley, officials said here Wednesday.

Of the three lakh hectares crop area in Kashmir division, around 1.35 lakh hectares have been fully damaged and the remaining 1.65 lakh hectares have have been severely affected due to incessant rains, drop in temperature and disease, said a report prepared by the agriculture department.

"The loss in terms of production has been assessed at 8,54,213 tonnes in respect of cereals, 5,08,492 tonnes of vegetables, 14,02,472 tonnes of fodder, 1,773 tonnes of pulses and 11 tonnes of saffron.

"The overall loss has been assessed at Rs.3,675 crore", department officials said here.

The department has calculated the relief amount due to farmers at Rs.217.42 crore.

The report said the floods have also badly affected agriculture land. Large chunks of land have been washed away, while in many areas large quantity of silt has got deposited in agriculture fields, rendering 3,811 hectares uncultivable across the valley.

"To reclaim the damaged land, extensive soil conservation measures would be required for which a Rs.453.51 crore plan has been formulated.

"Similarly, the damages estimated to the departmental buildings, labs, farms and other infrastructure has been pegged at Rs.24.66 crore," it said.

"The department has also formulated an assistance plan of Rs.64.17 crore to assist farmers by providing them seeds free of cost for the coming Rabi season, wherein Rabi crops are grown on approximately 1.3 lakh hectares. The free of cost seed assistance will cover an area of about 60,000 hectares and free fertilizer for all 1.3 lakh hectares in Kashmir division," officials said.

Source - http://www.mid-day.com/