Paddy cultivation spanning across 740 hectares has been damaged in the state due to relentless torrential rain for the past month-and-a-half, resulting in crop loss estimated at around Rs 3.5 crore.
As per data, the paddy output for the year 2022-23 was 1.32 lakh metric tonne, whereas it was 1.42 lakh metric tonne in the last financial year 2023-2024 in the state.
Paddy cultivation is undertaken on 46,000 hectares of land, of which 31,000 hectares is covered during Kharif season and the remaining 15,000 hectares during the Rabi season.
Director of Agriculture Sandeep Phaldesai said that the department has already undertaken assessment of crop loss throughout the state.
“Teams that were assigned with the task for each of the 12 zones have submitted their reports,” he said.
He said that the department has received as many as 2,206 applications from Krishi card holders and 447 applications from non-Krishi card holders to claim compensation for the crop loss.
He said the compensation, as announced by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant during the just-concluded assembly session, will be disbursed before the Ganesh festival.
Phaldesai said that 648 hectares of paddy fields belong to farmers having Krishi cards, while 92 hectares was cultivated by non-Krishi cardholders. He said farmers in Mapusa and Ponda zones are among the most severely affected.
“The reports prepared by the crop loss evaluation teams, overseen by zonal agriculture officers, indicate that farmers from Mapusa and Ponda have suffered the most due to heavy rains. The damage occurred during the critical stage of paddy transplantation,” he said.
“We will be submitting the reports to the government to facilitate the compensation process,” said the agriculture director.
He lamented that the department’s effort to revive Khazan lands and promote community farming suffered a setback this time due to continuous downpour.
Farmers from Salcete said that the government needs to implement measures to prevent crop damage on a large scale during monsoons and so that farming remains alive.
Source - https://www.navhindtimes.in
