Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse said here on Tuesday that as many as 35 lakh farmers in the State would receive compensation to the tune of Rs1,600 crore from the various insurance companies for the crop losses that they had suffered due to acute drought faced by them last year.
Talking to media persons, Khadse said that the farmers who would receive compensation for the crop losses were among the 45 lakh farmers who had paid crop insurance premium during the last year.
Khadse said that while 11 lakh soybean growers who had suffered crop losses to the tune of Rs824 crore, while 5.5 lakh pulse growers would be compensated to the tune of Rs175 crore. Similarly, five lakh cotton growers would get a total compensation to the tune of Rs278 crore, while 4.50 lakh Moog growers would be compensated to the tune of Rs120 crore.
Khadse said that in 12 districts of the state, whether forecast-based insurance scheme was being implemented, the insurance companies had directly credited to the tune of Rs270 crore in the accounts of 12 out of 13 lakh farmers who had taken insurance cover for their crops.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Government on Tuesday decided to shut down the defunct land Development Banks and acquire their properties.
CM Devendra Fadnavis said his Government had decided to accept a report from a committee that had been constituted by the previous Government to decide on the defunct lDBs with accumulated losses of Rs2,800 crore.