In view of the ongoing unseasonal rains, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today announced further relief measures for distressed farmers in the state.
These slew of measures include enhancement of limit of shrivelled and broken grain from 9 per cent to 10 per cent, for which the Chief Minister thanked the Centre, said an official release here.
It also includes 'special girdawari' (survey to assess damage to crops) for next five days in the state where crops are still standing and for damage to crops that occurred due to the rains on April 15 and 16, it said.
Notably, the Centre while enhancing the lustre loss wheat content upto 50 per cent affected kernels had put a cut of one-fourth of one full value but Khattar said that this cut will not be passed on to any farmer, the release said.
Presiding over a meeting to review the progress of procurement operations in the state, Khattar directed all the officers to ensure arrangements to prevent any damage to wheat that would be bought by farmers in mandis, its quick procurement and immediate release of payment to the farmers at the rate of Rs 1450 per quintal.
Unseasonal rains in March and April in the state have dealt a huge blow to the farmers.
He said that a Central team would be visiting affected areas in the state on April 18. The team would interact with officers of different departments and then would proceed for fields inspection in different districts.
He said visiting the affected areas will reveal the correct picture of damages and would smoothen Haryana's demand for additional funds from the Centre.
For wheat with shrivelled and broken grain between 6 to 8 per cent, there will be a cut of only Rs 14.50 per quintal. Similarly for wheat with shriveled and broken grains between 8 to 10 per cent, the cut will be only Rs 29 per quintal, he said.
A memorandum was also sent to the Centre by Revenue Department for seeking additional assistance to the tune of Rs 1135.91 crore.
The state had received heavy rains and hailstorms in March and the first week of April which cause heavy crop losses to farmers.
