Aurangabad, Oct 14:
Heavy rains in the district this year have caused tremendous damage to the crops on several hectares. The beleaguered farmers completely rely on the help of the government. The state government has announced a package of Rs 10,000 crore from the state disaster response fund (SDRF). Aurangabad district has received an aid of Rs 548 crore.
There is 4,92,442 hectares of rain-fed (jirayati) farm land. The farmers having rain-fed farm land will get Rs 10,000 per hectare. The aid allotted for soybean is Rs 22 crore, cotton Rs 271 crore, maize Rs 139 crore, Sorghum Rs 16 crore, Pearl millet Rs 2.70 crore, Tur Rs 29 crore, Mung Rs 3.79 crore, peanuts Rs 2.66 crore, black gram Rs 41.70 crore and other crops Rs 6.37 crore. The farmers owning irrigated (bagayati) farm land will get Rs 26 crore and farmers having fruit orchards will get aid of Rs 29 crore. The district collector Sunil Chavan had informed the guardian minister Subhash Desai about the damage in an online meeting. Desai then visited the farm land in Vaijapur and Gangapur tehsils. The aid was announced on the fifth day after Desai brought the matter to the notice of the chief minister.
Help to sustain orchards
District collector Sunil Chavan said that small farmers will benefit from the aid. The guardian minister presented the facts to the CM. This will benefit arable farmers and orchards. The farmers having irrigated farm land will receive Rs 3200 per hectare and fruit growers Rs 7000 per hectare.