A delegation of Union agriculture minister along with officials from the state agriculture department and other departments visited drought-affected villages in Solapur district
Pune: The kharif crop situation across drought-hit parts of Maharashtra is extremely grim, with instances of zero yield reported in some areas, as an 11-member inter-ministerial central delegation concluded its three-day ground survey on Saturday. Govt plans to complete both exercises by Oct 20 and submit its final memorandum to the Centre before Oct 23. Officials said the aim was to secure financial assistance for affected farmers before Diwali, enabling them to prepare for the rabi season, which is scheduled to begin on Oct 15.
some members indicated that it would be completed within a few days While no deadline has been announced for submission of its report.
A member of the delegation, who did not wish to be named, said the situation was critical in several talukas, particularly in Marathwada, where water bodies had dried up and crops had been completely destroyed in some locations. It is a widespread drought situation, with districts across Marathwada and Vidarbha affected,” the member said. One of the collectors from the Marathwada region said, “The delegation was stunned after seeing nil yield in several farms. A senior state agriculture department official said the delegation members had independently corroborated several aspects of the crop damage highlighted by the state govt. Similarly, soybean pods had no beans in them,” the official said. “Ground-truthing reports are crucial because they scientifically determine the extent of losses, while panchanamas substantiate other factors observed on the ground,” another agriculture department official said.
The team observed extensive crop damage, depleted water bodies and concerns over drinking water availability for livestock across Marathwada, Vidarbha and parts of western Maharashtra, including Ahilyanagar and Solapur districts. “There are instances of zero yield in the ongoing panchanamas. This tells the severity of the situation. Another worrying factor is the availability of water for cattle and their drinking needs. Many farmers have abandoned their crops in the fields in withered conditions. That is what we had shown to the team. They also spoke to some farmers to understand their situation personally. Agriculture department directors who accompanied the teams during their field visits also attended the meeting. “The team leaders shared their observations from the field. They pointed out that cotton plants appeared green but had few bolls, fewer branches and stunted growth. The state govt is now racing to complete the ground-truthing exercise and crop-loss panchanamas, which will form the basis of its final memorandum seeking central assistance.
The official added that the field observations had reinforced the state’s earlier assessment of the severity of the drought. On Sunday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis held a meeting with the central delegation and senior officials of the state agriculture department to discuss the findings.
The delegation, which arrived on Oct 8, split into three groups and visited more than 50 villages across severely affected regions. Agarwal said the members worked for more than 10 hours daily to document the situation.
“We have toured affected villages extensively in the last three days and, based on that, we will submit our report to the govt,” Agarwal said. We have taken our notes and observations, and all these things will come in the final report,” he said. “Our endeavour has been to note each and every aspect of the situation.
Muktanand Agarwal, joint secretary in the Union department of agriculture and farmers welfare, who led the delegation, told TOI on Sunday that the team would submit its findings to the Centre after compiling observations from its field visits.
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The state govt’s assessment and the central delegation’s findings are expected to play a crucial role in determining the scale of assistance sought from the Centre,” said another senior agriculture official. “Timely relief is particularly important as extensive Kharif losses have left farmers with limited resources to invest in the next cropping cycle. Download the TOI App.