Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Nov 15: With unseasonal rain damaging crops the state government Wednesday asked officials of the agriculture department to send special teams to the areas affected by heavy rains to assess the ground situation.
During their visits the officials will assess crop loss and collectors have been asked to submit reports to the government.
A direction regarding this was issued by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Secretariat Wednesday evening after a review of the weather. The CM asked officials to keep an eye on the rain and its effect on crops.
The CM also instructed officials to send additional teams, if required, to the field to ensure proper assessment of the situation.
The farmers who had sustained crop losses due to drought this kharif, also lost crops in 1.28 lakh hectares due to pest attacks.
The state government had cleared Rs 216 crore as input subsidy to farmers affected by drought. It also announced a package of Rs 137.5 crore to pest-hit farmers and assured drought and pest-hit farmers fresh loans for Rabi cultivation.
The Chief Minister asked officials to speed up the distribution of subsidy to affected farmers.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupad Sethi said that officials at the district level have been asked to distribute the input subsidy to farmers within seven days. Collectors have been asked to monitor it and submit distribution report daily to the CM’s office.
Meanwhile, agriculture secretary Sourav Garg who reviewed the situation earlier in the day said that from November 12 farmers have been alerted about the rain and had been asked to shift their harvested crops, especially paddy, to safe places. However, corrective measures are required for crops that are still in the agriculture fields and haven’t been shifted.
The Agriculture secretary also said that till now the situation has remained under control as crops haven’t been affected much.
According to ground reports, unseasonal rain has affected 15 districts including Ganjam, Nayagarh, Khurda, Puri, Jajpur, Gajapati, Cuttack among others.