Recent rains and hailstorm in different parts of the country had damaged Rabi crops in about 181 lakh hectares of land across 13 states during February 28-March 16 with UP and Rajasthan facing the brunt.
The affected cultivable land is huge if one looks at the total cultivable area (600 lakh hectare) in the current Rabi season. The wheat crop faced the maximum damage due to unseasonal rains.
The extent of the loss of rabi crop was communicated to the finance minister Arun Jaitley by the agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh in a meeting on Tuesday.
Officials in the agriculture ministry said that the loss to wheat crop was estimated in about 120 lakh hectares with maximum impact reported in Uttar Pradesh (75 lakh hectares) and Rajasthan (17 lakh hectares).
Besides wheat, pulses crop has been affected in 20 lakh hectares, while that of mustard crops in 25 lakh hectares, vegetable in 2.3 lakh hectares, cumin seed in 2.5 lakh hectares, Isabgol in 1.29 lakh hectares and coriander in 1.83 lakh hectares due to unseasonal rains.
According to the ministry’s preliminary report, the maximum rabi crops damage was reported in Uttar Pradesh (97.29 lakh hectare) followed by Rajasthan (45.5 lakh hectare), Haryana (19.20 lakh hectare), Madhya Pradesh (5.7 lakh hectare), Maharashtra (3.95 lakh hectare), Jammu & Kashmir (3.91 lakh hectare), Punjab (3.5 lakh hectare), Himachal Pradesh (1.5 lakh hectare). Some damage has also been reported in West Bengal (0.48 lakh hectare), Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttarakhand.
Singh is learnt to have told Jaitley that Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have perhaps over-reported the crop damages and the total rabi crop loss may come down to around 100 lakh hectares when the final report is prepared by states.
“State governments have been asked to render immediate assistance to farmers from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), which has funds to the tune of Rs. 5,270 crore for utilization in the current financial year”, said an official.
The Centre, meanwhile, approved Rs 2,000-crore relief fund for areas affected by drought last year in Maharashtra. The approved amount is four times higher than Rs 500 crore sanctioned as relief for 2013 drought. The state faced severe drought last year due to poor monsoon, affecting crop yields and drinking water supply.
