The Punjab Government on Thursday sought Rs717 crore comprehensive relief package as special Central assistance to compensate the State’s farmers for losses caused by damage to their standing Rabi crops due to recent untimely rain and hailstorms. Punjab’s Commissioner (Agriculture) Balwinder Singh Sidhu, in a letter to the Central Agriculture Secretary, has urged for grant of this compensation.
“This would not only encourage the farmers in this hour of crisis but would lead them to work harder to ensure food security in the nation,” said Sidhu in his letter. The State Government has pointed out that rain and hailstorms affected standing crops in over 2.60 lakh hectares, fodder crops in nearly 24,000 hectares, and horticulture crops in over 10,000 hectares in the months of February-March.
“In order to compensate the farmers for the losses suffered, compensation at the rate of Rs3,600 per acre was being provided by the State Government due to high input cost incurred by the farmers and excessive damage to Rabi crops. The compensation needs to be enhanced to Rs10,000 per acre,” the letter stated.
It contended that compensation under existing norms was too less and farmers would not be able to even sow the next crop, leave alone recover the cost of the standing crop damaged by the hailstorms, heavy rains and high velocity winds. “It was strongly felt that the farmers needed to be adequately compensated in this hour of crisis,” the letter read.
“Such a loss may not lead us to conclude that the loss was 50 per cent or more, but certainly heavy damage had been caused to realisable value of the crop due to decrease in yield and hence it was strongly felt that the farmers needed to be adequately compensated in this hour of crisis,” he said. So far area with loss of 50 per cent or more is concerned, it would only be known after the revenue inspectors (patwaris) have done special girdawari (harvest inspection), the letter read.
“There is a substantial resentment amongst the farmers for the likely loss in their income and productivity of standing wheat crop, which is otherwise expected to be a bumper crop said the Commissioner while impressing upon the Centre to consider their proposal and provide requisite relief to the farmers even if it has to be a special dispensation.