The Gujarat government on Saturday announced a massive relief package of Rs 3,795 crore for farmers facing crop damage due to unseasonal rains received in October and November.

The move is aimed at benefiting about 56.36 farmers from 18,369 villages in the State.

The relief package covers almost all farmers in all the talukas of the State, making it the first such instance in the State’s 59-year history.

The decision comes after State government received multiple representations from farmer leaders and MLAs from the affected regions about crop damage due to unseasonal rains and thunderstorm following two successive cyclonic storms ‘Kyarr’ and ‘Maha’ during the months of October andNovember.

A statement released by the State government informed that the relief package of Rs 3,795 crore, includes Rs 2,154 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), while the remaining Rs 1,641 crore will be paid from State’s budgetary provisions.

Relief for farmers

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani chaired a high-level meeting on November 21 to assess the damage to the agriculture and the status of the kharif crops.

After detailed deliberations with the concerned departments, the relief package was approved for the crop damage due to unseasonal rains received between the period October 15 to November 20 in the State.

As per the relief package, 9,416 villages of 125 talukas in 29 districts had received unseasonal rains of more than one inch. 28.61 lakh farmers of these villages will receive relief of Rs 6,800 per hectare, with a ceiling of two hectares per farmer, as per the SDRF norms. 4.7 lakh farmers from 1,463 villages which received scatted rainfall, but automatic weather stations showed rainfall in excess of one inch, will also get similar relief as per SDRF norms.

For places that received less than one inch of rainfall, the relief package will be in the limit of Rs 4,000 per farmer. This will cover about 5.95 lakh farmers.

“The State government has been generous to consider the places, where there was scattered rainfall, which caused some damage to the crops. For about 17.10 lakh farmers in 81 talukas , a relief amount of Rs 4,000 per farmers will be paid,” the state government stated.

The total kharif sowing in the State was reported at 86.77 lakh hectares for the season 2019-20, which is about 2 per cent more than the normal 84.76 lakh hectares. Groundnut and cotton are the two key kharif crops, along with oilseeds and pulses.

Excess rainfall

During its South-West Monsoon season, Gujarat received excess rainfall of 1,190 mm till November 8, 2019, about 45 per cent more than State's long period average of 816 mm.

Kutch region received 84 per cent more rainfall at 738 mm, while North Gujarat received 20 per cent excess rainfall at 856 mm, East and Central region got 31 per cent more rains at 1,071 mm, while Saurashtra and South Gujarat region received 54 per cent and 48 per cent excess rains at 1,027 mm and 2,111 mm respectively.

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