Gujarat govt announces financial aid for farmers to cover crop loss

The Gujarat government on Tuesday announced a relief package for farmers of four districts who have suffered crop loss due to heavy rains last month and said a compensation of Rs 13,000 per hectare would be paid to them.

Under the ''Agriculture Relief Package'', affected farmers of four districts would be given a compensation of Rs 13,000 per hectare with a limit of two hectares against the loss of crops due to excessive rains, said an official release.

Following reports of crop loss due to heavy showers in some parts of Gujarat in September, the state government had ordered a survey to assess agricultural damage.

On Tuesday, the state government announced that affected farmers of four districts - Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagadh and Porbandar - will be covered under the ''Agriculture Relief Package''.

While no specific amount of the entire package has been announced, the government said each eligible farmer would get a compensation of Rs 13,000 per hectare with a limit of two hectares if the crop loss was equal or above 33 per cent, the release said.

Since the limit of compensation under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is Rs 6,800 per hectare, the difference of Rs 6,200 per hectare would be paid from the state budget, it said.

If the landholding is less than one hectare, the minimum compensation will be Rs 5,000, said the release.

Eligible farmers are required to submit an online application with all required details and scanned documents such as Aadhaar and bank account number before October 25 to get the compensation, it said.

In case of a landowner's death, any one family member mentioned in the land records will be given the financial aid subject to certain conditions, said the release. PTI PJT PD RSY RSY

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