Even as the Gujarat government ordered a survey to assess the damage caused to farmers due to heavy unseasonal rains around Diwali, preliminary estimates suggest that it has caused damage in over 42,000 hectares of farmland in over 16,000 villages in the state, Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani said on Wednesday.
Faghani stressed that the government will announce a relief package “as soon as possible.” He was interacting with the media while giving details about the commencement of procurement of groundnut, soybean, mung and black bean at minimum support price (MSP) from November 9. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel made an announcement in this regard on Wednesday.
In view of the unseasonal rains causing widespread damage to standing crops, the state government has ordered a survey of the damage to farmers across the state.
In response to a question about the reports the government obtained from survey teams and the extent of the damage, Faghani said: “According to the initial estimate, widespread damage has occurred in more than 42,000 hectares (of land) in more than 16,000 villages.”
The area of damaged agricultural land is about 42 per cent of the state’s total operational land holdings, when compared with the 2015-16 agricultural census data of Gujarat. According to the 2015-16 Agricultural Census of Gujarat, the total operational land area of Gujarat is 99.77 lakh hectares.
On October 31, in the wake of unseasonal rains, the Gujarat government postponed the procurement of groundnuts, soybeans, mung and black beans at the minimum support price. The purchasing process was scheduled to begin on November 1.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said in a post on
Story continues below this ad
“Hereby, the procurement process will start from November 9. In this situation of natural calamity, the government is concerned about the financial well-being of the farming families and the entire system is working sincerely with the sensitivity that no farming family is facing any difficulty,” the Prime Minister added in the circular.
As per the official statement, groundnut, mung, black bean and soybean will be procured at Rs 7,263 per quintal, Rs 8,768 per quintal, Rs 7,800 per quintal and Rs 5,328 per quintal respectively.
The purchase will be made at more than 300 notified purchasing centers.
Quoting Faghani, the statement said that the minimum interest rate for the current year has been increased significantly under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when compared to last year’s rates.
Story continues below this ad
She also added that in view of the huge production of groundnuts this year, the government has decided to purchase 125 man (1 man = 20 kg) from each farmer as per procurement rules.
Asked whether any relaxation in the quality of agricultural produce would be given to farmers while purchasing in MSP since the crops suffered damage due to unseasonal rains, Vaghani said the procurement would be done as per rules and the damages caused would be covered under the relief package to be announced by the state government.
Quoting Vagani, the statement also said that groundnut, mung, black bean and soybean worth Rs 15,000 crore were planned to be procured this year from Gujarat farmers under the Pradhanmantri Annadata Aay Sarnkshan Abhiyan scheme.
Asked about the Congress’s announcement opposing the start of Kisan Akrush Yatra from Saurashtra from Thursday while demanding farm loan waiver, Vaghani said: “We have never seen such (difficult) days (for farmers) before. I don’t want to play politics. When the time comes to do politics, we will definitely talk accordingly. Now, it is time to stand by the farmers and do such a talk which does not affect their morale.”
(tags for translation)Villages affected by unseasonal rains
