The Maharashtra government has announced financial aid for farmers who suffered crop loss during this year’s monsoon, when the state recorded nearly 17 per cent surplus rain and even faced Cyclone Nisarga in early June. Because of the late withdrawal of Southwest Monsoon, heavy rain continued till last month over many parts of the state. Farmers who own not more than two hectares of land, have adopted both rain-fed and irrigated farming methods, and have suffered at least 33 per cent loss to their standing crop due to floods and excess rain will be considered for the compensation. After a high-level meeting chaired on November 3, state government officials have decided to provide a compensation of Rs 10,000 per hectare for those farmers who cultivate one crop a year. A sum of Rs 25,000 will be provided to farmers who cultivate two crops a year. Marathwada division – comprising Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Beed, Latur and Osmanabad districts — suffered the maximum agriculture loss, pegged at Rs 2,558.05 lakh, followed by Pune Division comprising Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur districts, with estimated loss worth Rs 2,307.5 lakh. The state’s total estimated loss stands at Rs 5,637.59 lakh. The government compensation will also be extended to members of deceased families, for loss of poultry and reared animals, and damage to houses due to natural calamities in the five monsoon months (June to October). Source - https://indianexpress.com