Ramdas Kadam assures Latur farmers of Centre’s fund

Mumbai: State environment minister Ramdas Kadam on Monday assured farmers that the state government has demanded compensation for all farmers from the Centre, irrespective of the number of crops lost.

Farmers in Marathwada region have been demanding compensation as nearly all the Kharif crops have been damaged due to unseasonal rains.

Mr Kadam, who is also the guardian minister of Latur, was addressing a press conference in the district, when he said that the state is assessing the total damage caused to crops due to heavy rain.

Showing samples of damaged soya bean, the minister said, “Kharif crops in Nanded and other regions of Marathwada have been destroyed due to unseasonal rain witnessed during the last 10 days. The entire soya bean crop has been destroyed. We have demanded from the Centre that all farmers here be compensated immediately, irrespective of the crop losses.”

“The assessment of damage caused to the crops is underway and 40 per cent of the survey work has been completed. We will complete the entire assessment soon,” added Mr Kadam.

According to preliminary estimates, crops on around 30 lakh hectares in the entire Marathwada region have been destroyed owing to unseasonal rains over the last month.

The report stated that in October, cotton crops on 11,45,000 hectares; soya bean crops on 12,29,000 hectares; and maize crops on more than 10 lakh hectares were damaged in Marathwada.

“The crisis is huge and so is the damage. During these hard times, the Shiv Sena will strongly push the Centre to prove immediate relief to the farmers,” said Mr Kadam.

Around 30 lakh farmers out of the total 43,01,436 have incurred heavy losses due to the damage caused to their crops, mainly cotton, maize and soya bean, in Marathwada, according to estimates.