PANAJI
The Agriculture Department has assessed and approved claims for compensation of nearly 3,000 farmers whose crops were devastated by heavy unseasonal rains in October, immediately after the withdrawal of the monsoon.
The rains, which struck just after Diwali, flattened standing paddy fields that were ready for harvest, leaving farmers across the State facing severe losses.
Under the 'Shetkari Adhar Nidhi' scheme, financial assistance amounting to Rs 2.53 crore will be disbursed to 2,997 farmers, Director of Agriculture, Sandeep Foldessai said.
The assessment by agriculture officials has confirmed that 577 hectares of paddy fields were affected with Bardez taluka taking the worst hit.
Foldessai said, crops spread over 200 hectares in Bardez were destroyed, impacting 930 farmers.
The rotting of paddy due to water-logging and the difficulty of harvesting flattened fields compounded the distress.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had earlier announced that the government would compensate farmers for the climate induced losses, following which the department urged farmers to approach their respective ZAOs with applications.
Agriculture officials then carried out field inspections and verified the extent of damage before approving the compensation claims. The vetting process, which included assessing applications from farmers without agricultural cards, has now been completed, Foldessai said.
The compensation has been structured at a rate of Rs 40,000 per hectare, with a maximum limit of four hectares per farmer.
This means that individual farmers can receive up to Rs 1.6 lakh in assistance.
The department emphasized that the evaluation was conducted swiftly to ensure timely relief, given the scale of damage and the urgency of supporting farmers before the next cropping cycle.
Officials noted that while Bardez bore the brunt of the rains, other talukas also reported significant losses.
The Agriculture Department is also continuing the process of assessing at least another 500-odd applications and all affected cultivators will be covered, Foldessai added.
