BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has sought Central assistance of Rs 1,534.82 crore to undertake relief measures for drought-hit farmers in nine districts of the State. As crop loss (mainly paddy) of 33 per cent and above has been recorded in some parts of these districts due to erratic rainfall and moisture-stress condition, the State Government has submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare seeking immediate release of the Central aid, informed the office of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC).
Loss of crops has been reported from Bargarh, Balangir, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh districts.
The SRC office said after representations were received from farmers’ organisations and people’s representatives regarding the drought situation, the Collectors of these districts were directed to conduct joint field enquiry through field functionaries of Agriculture and Revenue departments and submit a report on crop damage sustained by farmers due to drought.
As per the reports received from the Collectors, the Government has declared 3,24,590.8 hectare (ha) in 6,389 villages of 70 blocks and 101 Wards under 19 urban local bodies in the nine districts as drought-affected during kharif 2018. As per the memorandum, farmers in Sundargarh have sustained crop loss in 67,540 ha while crops were damaged in 53,140 ha in Sambalpur. Similarly, crop damage was reported in 38,008 ha in Bargarh, 26,306 ha in Balangir, 2,151 ha in Deogarh, 31,076.9 ha in Jharsuguda, 22,268.5 ha in Kalahandi, 24,191 ha in Nabarangpur and 59,908.8 ha in Nuapada.
The State Government has also asked Collectors of Balangir and Boudh to expedite relief measures to bail out farmers who have sustained crop loss due to pest menace.Recently, the Government had stated that crops in 10,000 ha in these two districts were damaged due to pests. According to the reports submitted by Collectors of both the districts, 1,567 villages under 15 blocks and 14 Wards in four urban local bodies have been affected by the pest menace.