Odisha Government seeks reports from Collectors on crop damage due to unseasonal rain

“The Odisha Government has asked Collectors of several districts to assess damage to crops owing to unseasonal rain in the State and submit reports at the earliest,” a Minister said.

Unseasonal rain owing to a depression lashed several parts of the State from December 20 to 22, causing damage to standing crops in several coastal and interior districts.

Speaking to media persons, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Sunday (December 22, 2024) said, “Collectors of the affected districts have been asked to carry out a proper assessment of the damaged crops due to the unseasonal rainfall.” “The field-level revenue officials will conduct the assessment after the rain subsides,” he said.

The Minister assured the affected farmers that the State Government would provide adequate compensation for the crop loss and extend help for the sale of the remaining produce.

An official statement said that the many coastal and interior districts such as Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Deogarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Khurda, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Nawrangpur, Nayagarh, Puri and Raygada have sustained crop loss over the last two days.

“About 15 lakh farmers from these districts have been enrolled under the insurance scheme. The farmers who have insured their Kharif crops under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (Kharif – 2024) are required to report loss of their harvested crops for claiming insurance compensation. Farmers can upload the information on crop loss using the ‘Krishi Rakshak‘ app within 72 hours of the crop loss or intimate through the helpline 14447,” the government said.

Meanwhile, farmers in Ganjam district demanded relaxation of the paddy procurement norms so that they can be able to sell their produce to the government.

“Cultivators, who have harvested the crop and stocked it in the field for processing, have been affected due to the untimely rain,” farmers’ organisation Rushikulya Rait Mahasabha secretary Simanchal Nahak said.

“We fear their products might be rejected owing to moisture content. We demanded relaxation of the fair average quality (FAQ) norms of paddy on purchase by the government,” said Sameer Pradhan, a farmer of Takarada in Sheragada block.

Several farmers have also demanded compensation for their loss of crops during the visit of State’s Commerce and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena in Rangeilunda block. He has visited several villages and discussed with the farmers.

“As the Ganjam district administration has started the assessment of the damage, it stopped paddy procurement for now. The authorities will submit its report to the government in seven days,” an official said.

“The government will take appropriate action to help the affected farmers”, the Minister said. “The administration had earlier decided to start the procurement of paddy from Monday (December 23, 2024) and now rescheduled it to January 3,” the official said.

“Chief District Agriculture Officer (CDAO) R.N. Panda said the joint survey conducted by the agriculture, horticulture and revenue staff, has already started from Sunday (December 22, 2024) to assess the exact damage. The survey would be completed this month,” he said.