Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced a special assistance package of Rs 507 crore for the farmers affected by cyclone Jawad that touched Odisha coast earlier this month, triggering heavy downpour across the State.
As per a release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), small and marginal farmers, who suffered crop loss of 33 per cent and above, will get Rs 6800 per hectare in non-irrigated land while a subsidy of Rs 13,500 per hectare will provided for land with irrigation facilities.
Similarly, the CM announced to offer Rs 18,000 per hectare to farmers growing all types of perennial fruits like coconut, mango, cashew, betel etc.
The farmers will receive a minimum Rs 2,000 as input subsidy for all-season crops and a minimum Rs 1,000 subsidy for other crops, the statement read.
Farmers in the affected 12 districts of Odisha will be provided with 12,000 quintals of high-quality certified paddy seeds along with a 25 per cent rebate from the current 2021-22 Kharif season and the rebate will be credited directly to the farmer's account through DBT.
The State government will also provide 50,000 mini kits of pulse seeds and 4 lakh pockets of vegetable seeds to the farmers free of cost. About 1 lakh farmers will get aid at the rate of Rs 4,000 per 0.20 hectares for cultivation of hybrid vegetable crops.
Similarly, a subsidy of Rs 50 crore will be provided to the cyclone affected farmers through DBT for procurement of technical agriculture equipment, said the statement.
About 5,000 pump sets and 5,000 sprayers with 50 per cent subsidy will be distributed among the farmers in the affected districts.
Steps will be taken to expedite the preparation of crop harvest reports for settlement of claims of the affected farmers covered under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), said the CMO, adding that short-term loans of farmers with 33 per cent and above crops damage in affected areas will be converted into medium-term loans.