Bhubaneswar, Jun 10 (FN Representative) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced a package for the farmers affected by cyclone Yaas which hit the state on May 26 last. The cyclone has damaged crops, affected animal resources, fish farmers, handloom and handicraft artisans. As per the announcement, small and marginal farmers will get an input subsidy of Rs 6800 per hectare in non irrigated land if the damage caused to the crop was 33 per cent or more. The Chief Minister announced to convert the short term Kharif loan of farmers in cyclone-affected areas to medium-term loans if the crop loss was more than 33 per cent.
An input subsidy of Rs 13,500 per hectare would be given for crop loss in irrigated land and Rs 18,800 assistance would be given to farmers of all-weather crops which included Coconut, Mango, Cashew, Banana, Ketaki and Paan. Mr Patnaik said while a minimum input subsidy of Rs 2000 would be given for all-weather crops, Rs 1000 minimum input subsidy would be given for all other crops. The government, the Chief Minister said, would provide a Rs 20 crore subsidy to farmers in cyclone-affected areas for procuring improved agriculture equipment. As many as 2,000 pump sets, 3,000 sprayers would be provided to farmers at a subsidised rate. Maximum Rs 15,000 subsidy would be given for pump sets, Rs 3,800 for power sprayer and Rs 750 subsidy for manual sprayers would be given.
The farmers of the cyclone-affected districts would be given 25 per cent more subsidy over the subsidy being given now for the Kharif 2021 along with 1.5 lakh quintal of improved certified paddy seeds. The subsidy amount will be transferred directly to the accounts of the farmers through DBT. One lakh farmers would be covered under a seed purification programme for more harvest in the Kharif season. The pilot project would be undertaken in 25,000 hectares of land in cyclone-affected areas for the cultivation of pulses, paddy, jute and incentives Rs 1500 per hectares would be provided for 36,000 hectares of land to farmers adopting improved farming technology. An assistance of Rs 750 per hectare for nutrient management and soil ameliorants would be given for land inundated by saline water in Balasore and Bhadrak districts. In total assistance would be given for 10,000 hectares.
An incentive of Rs 15,000 per head would be given to 125 betel leaf farmers and improved quality sapling would be given to 10,000 vegetable farmers and 50 mushroom units would be given Rs 40,000 each for restarting their mushroom cultivation. As many as 10,000 mini vegetable kits worth Rs 110 each would be provided to farmers free of cost. Steps would be taken for compiling crop cutting reports for the early settlement of the crop insurance claims of farmers covered under Prime Minister Faisal Bima Yojana. The Chief Minister also announced to assist in the loss of cows, goats and buffaloes and poultry, boats, and to handloom and handicraft artisans in the cyclone. Massive employment opportunities under the MGNREGA would be created to provide jobs to the people and house building assistance would be paid to eligible beneficiaries as per the NDRF and SDRF rule.