Bharne with local MLA Babasaheb Deshmukh inspected crop damage in Sangola taluka of Solapur district
Kolhapur: State agriculture minister Dattatray Bharne on Friday said crop loss assessment of over 1 crore hectares of kharif plantation has been completed and there is 100% loss in the drought-hit talukas. The compensation will thus not be partial but a blanket one, he added while speaking to the media after visiting fields in Sangola taluka of Solapur district.
The minister said crop loss assessment has been completed on around 67% of total kharif plantations in the state. “In the next four days, the crop loss assessment of entire 1.49 cr hectares of area under kharif cultivation will be completed. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has assured maximum compensation as possible,” he said, stating that out of eight agricultural divisions, Amravati division is leading with 91% coverage of crop loss assessment, followed by Latur with 84%, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar with 70%, Pune with 58%, Nagpur with 48%, Nashik with 39%, Kolhapur with 29% and Konkan with 17%. Bharne said that govt has released Rs 13,500 cr to waive the loans of the farmers with loan dues less than Rs 2 lakh; there are 30 lakh such farmers. “There are around 3 lakh farmers with loan amount more than Rs 2 lakh; the farmers will have to settle the amount over and above Rs 2 lakh. The third list of beneficiaries will be those who have paid the loans regularly; there are 22 lakh such farmers.
There is no such thing as partial loss; there is 100% loss of the crops in drought hit talukas and therefore compensation will not be partial but a blanket one.
Owing to some KYC issues and bank queries, the list got delayed, but soon, these farmers will also get the incentive promised as per Ahilyadevi Shetkari Karjmafi Yojana,” said Bharne. Bharne assured that the farmers will be compensated for crop loss before Diwali. “First, the compensation as per NDRF guidelines will be given to the farmers.