AP Agriculture Department Director Dr. Manazir Jeelani Samoon makes e-KYC verification mandatory for e-Crop booking to claim Cyclone Arnab crop insurance.
Agriculture department director Dr Manazir Jeelani Samoon said that e-KYC verification of e-Crop Booking details is mandatory for farmers to receive crop insurance claims for losses caused by Cyclone Arnab.
He directed field-level officials to create awareness among farmers and complete the verification process on a priority basis, particularly in the five Godavari-region districts and other affected areas. In a press release here on Saturday, he said e-Crop Booking had been completed for 98 per cent of the cultivated area across the five erstwhile Godavari districts, but e-KYC verification had reached only 74 per cent.
In view of the cyclone-related crop damage, officials should expedite the process to ensure eligible farmers do not miss out on insurance benefits. The director instructed officials to focus on immediate crop restoration and revival measures, as directed by the Chief Minister. They should ensure the drainage of stagnant rainwater by opening breaches in field bunds and advise farmers to spray a 5% salt solution on lodged crops as a remedial measure.
He also stressed the need to expedite crop-loss enumeration and registration.
He said the special Rythanna Meekosam campaign, beginning November 2, should educate every farmer about crop insurance, input subsidy assistance and other welfare schemes. The campaign should be conducted in strict compliance with the Model Code of Conduct and without the participation of political representatives.
Samoon said rabi crop insurance enrolment had commenced and advised farmers to insure their crops against possible weather-related risks, including cyclones, flash floods, drought and high temperatures. He also stressed the importance of Farmer Unique IDs, which would be mandatory for the procurement of paddy, cotton, green gram, red gram, black gram and other notified crops. Farmer IDs would also be required for fertiliser purchases under the new Fertiliser Sales System (FFS) from the Rabi season.
The State government was extending the facility to landless tenant farmers as well, he said. He informed that around 1.5 lakh quintals of chickpea seed had been supplied to farmers during the current Rabi season at a 35 per cent subsidy, three to four times the quantity supplied in previous years.
He advised farmers to opt for short-duration, low-water-consuming crops in dryland areas to make efficient use of available water resources. The director also instructed officials to provide comprehensive field-level information to Central teams visiting the erstwhile Anantapur and Kurnool districts to assess El Niño-related conditions and the erstwhile East and West Godavari districts to assess the impact of Cyclone Arnab.
Source - https://www.thehansindia.com
