Gujarat Government Announces “Agriculture Relief Package” to Compensate Crop Losses

Gujarat Government has announced an “Agriculture relief Package”, for the farmers of four districts of the state. A compensation of Rs 13000 per hectare would be given with a limit of two hectares against the loss of crops due to excessive rains in the state. 

After the reports of Crop loss due to heavy rains last month the State Government had ordered a survey to assess agricultural damage. Following which on Tuesday, October 19, the Officials announced that the affected farmers of 4 districts namely, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagarh and  Porbandar will be covered under the “Agriculture Relief Package”. 

No specific amount of the entire package has been announced, the government said each eligible farmer would get a compensation of Rs 13000 per hectare with a limit of 2 hectares if the crop loss was equal to or above 33%. 

The limit of Compensation under the State Disaster Relief Fund is Rs 6,800 per hectare. Thus the balance of Rs 6200 per hectare would be paid from the state budget. 

If the landholding is less than one hectare, the minimum compensation will be Rs 5000, said the release. 

Eligible farmers can submit an online application with all required details and scanned documents such as Adhaar Card & Bank account number before October 25 to get the compensation. In case of the land owner’s death, anyone family member mentioned in the land records will be given financial aid subject to certain conditions. 

Rainfall in Gujarat: 

Gujarat received 32% of the season’s average rainfall in 19 days of September, covering most of the rainfall deficit that had posed a drought-like situation in several districts and in fact raising water logging in many parts of the state. Due to which the farmers suffered huge losses as the flood water stagnated the fields in several districts. In such a situation, this relief package by the Gujarat Government can be seen as a huge boon to the affected farmers.