Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday briefed his finance counterpart Arun Jaitley about damages in rabi crops in about estimated 181 lakh hectares across 13 states due to untimely rain and hailstorm.
Singh in the meeting told Jaitley that Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have perhaps over-reported the crop damages, sources said. Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and some senior officials were also present in the meeting.
The Agriculture Minister told Jaitley that the total rabi crop loss may come down to around 100 lakh hectares when the final report is prepared by states, sources added.
Singh informed the Finance Minster that state governments have been asked to render immediate assistance to farmers from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), which has funds to the tune of Rs 5,270 crore for utilisation in this fiscal.
As per SDRF norms, the state governments can give input subsidy to farmers at the rate of Rs 4,500 per hectare for rainfed areas, Rs 9,000 per hectare for irrigated areas and Rs 12,000 per hectare for perennial crops.
The state governments have also been asked to submit a memorandum to the Centre in case the expenditure is more than the available fund in SDRF.
As per preliminary report, damage to rabi (winter) crops is estimated in 181 lakh hectares due to untimely rains. The total cultivable area in rabi season is 600 lakh hectares.
Of total damage to rabi crops, the loss to wheat crop is estimated in about 120 lakh hectares with maximum impact reported in Uttar Pradesh (75 lakh hectares) and Rajasthan (17 lakh hectares).
Besides wheat, pulses crop has been affected in 20 lakh hectares, while that of mustard crops in 25 lakh hectares, vegetable in 2.3 lakh hectares, cumin seed in 2.5 lakh hectares, Isabgol in 1.29 lakh hectares and coriander in 1.83 lakh hectares due to unseasonal rains.
As per the report, the maximum rabi crops damage was reported in Uttar Pradesh (97.29 lakh hectare) followed by Rajasthan (45.5 lakh hectare), Haryana (19.20 lakh hectare), Madhya Pradesh (5.7 lakh hectare), Maharashtra (3.95 lakh hectare), Jammu & Kashmir (3.91 lakh hectare), Punjab (3.5 lakh hectare), Himachal Pradesh (1.5 lakh hectare).
Some damage to rabi crops has also been reported in West Bengal (0.48 lakh hectare), Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttarakhand, the report added.
In Maharashtra, crop loss has been reported in jowar, maize, wheat, gram, onion, mango, grapes and cashew nuts.
The Agriculture Minister said in the meeting that central teams have been sent to different states to get first hand information on the nature and extent of damage.
Unseasonal rain and hailstorm occurred in three phases - Feburary 28 to March 2, March 7-8 and March 14-16 in different states.