Crops in 50 lakh ha damaged by unseasonal rain: Govt in RS

Standing crops in over 50 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have been damaged by the recent unseasonal rains, government said today.
Replying to a short duration discussion in Rajya Sabha on this issue, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said the rains in last 3-4 days have damaged crops in states like Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
"At some places there has been rainfall of upto 8 to 10 cms. The most-affected districts include Karnal in Haryana, Amritsar in Punjab, Bareli and Kanpur in UP, Chandrapur, Yavatmal and Pune in Maharashtra, Jabalpur and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh," he said.

Observing that the states were empowered to release funds to the affected farmers, he said they have funds in this regard and Centre will provide more funds wherever required.
"As per initial reports received from states till now, there has been damage to 27 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh, 7.5 lakh hectares in Maharashtra, 14.5 lakh hectares in Rajasthan, 50,000 hectares in West Bengal and 6,000 hectares in Punjab," the Minister said.
"I am in touch with states where farmers have suffered badly and government is planning bring in a new 'Krishi Amdani Yojna' in the next financial year," he said.

The government is also in the process of introducing a new agriculture income insurance scheme that would be implemented in the coming year, Singh said.
Regarding earlier damage to crops in Maharashtra, he said his Ministry has written to the Home Ministry for release of funds under National Disaster Relief Fund to protect the affected farmers.