Odisha release Rs 137.52 cr for farmers affected by pest attack

Bhubaneswar, Nov 10 (IANS) The Odisha government has notified 1,28,319 hectares of cropped areas in 24 districts as pest-affected and released Rs 137.52 crore agriculture input subsidy for the affected farmers, said an official on Friday.

Twenty-four out of 30 districts have reported crop damage due to pest attack while the remaining 6 districts - Balasore, Cuttack, Jagatsingpur, Kandhamal, Kendrapada and Malkanagiri -have not been affected, said the Special Relief Commissioner's office in a statement.

It is ascertained from the reported data that there is crop loss of 33 per cent and more in 128,319 hectares of cropped area in 8,092 villages under 150 blocks and 148 wards under 35 urban local bodies of 24 districts.

Earlier, the state government had announced that agriculture input subsidy at Rs 6,800 per hectare for rainfed areas and Rs 13,500 per hectare for areas under assured irrigation would be provided to the farmers, who suffered crop loss due to pest attack.

Since pest attack has been classified as one of the twelve approved natural disasters, the farmers who have sustained crop loss of 33 per cent and above are eligible for agriculture input subsidy, said the statement.

It said that an amount of Rs 137.52 crore has been sanctioned out of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in favour of district collectors concerned for disbursement of agriculture input subsidy to the affected farmers.

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