Rain havoc: Kerala seeks ₹110 crore as urgent Central assistance for farm sector
The Kerala government has sought ₹110 crore as urgent assistance from the Centre for propping up the State’s farm sector hit by the heavy rainfall
The Kerala government has sought ₹110 crore as urgent assistance from the Centre for propping up the State’s farm sector hit by the heavy rainfall and flooding events over the past weeks. Agriculture Minister T. Siddique said that he has written to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking the Central aid. The State’s request includes ₹100 crore as immediate assistance and ₹10 crore for restoring farmlands that have lost soil fertility.
Citing first information reports of the Agriculture department, Mr. Siddique said assessments up to August 9 have pegged the losses to the farm sector at ₹127.61 crore. As many as 45,904 farmers across all 14 districts of the State have been affected by the rain havoc, with 9,332 hectares of farmland reported as flood-affected. Central team In his letter, he has also requested Mr. Chouhan to despatch a Central team to assess the loss, Mr. Siddique said here on Sunday.
The State government will write to the Centre again once the loss assessments have been updated, he added. Siddique, who had toured the affected Kuttanad region last week, said the State’s farm sector as a whole has sustained widespread losses in the heavy rainfall and floods. On Tuesday (August 11), a special meeting has been scheduled in Thiruvananthapuram to discuss ways to assist the affected farmers.
Siddique and Cooperation Minister M. Liju will attend the meeting. Schemes, including those for replanting of crops in the affected regions and interest waivers on farmer loans, will be discussed at the meeting.
The BriefWire