Agartala , Sep 16, 2024, TRIPURATIMES Desk

Agartala, Sep 16: As the Tripura government is committed to stand by the people of the state affected by the deadly flood previous month through financial assistance and other means, the government has recently granted financial assistance of Rs 20 crore for 148379 flood affected farmers in Tripura.

Addressing a press conference here at Agartala Press Club on Monday, the secretary of the agriculture department Apoorba Roy said that Rs 1000 will be credited to the bank account of each of the 148379 farmers in Tripura as part of the interim assistance by this week.

He said that total 45248 farmers engaged to cultivation of winter vegetables, betel, fruits and gardening will receive the financial assistance by this week, while out of this 42,374 farmers will receive Rs 1000 and 897 farmers engaged to cultivation of fruits and gardening will receive Rs 2000 each. 1,977 affected betel farmers will be given Rs 2,950, he added.

He said that the state government has already given Rs 20 crore to the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for the interim assistance of the affected farmers. Out of this Rs 15 crores have been given to agriculture sector and Rs 5 crores to horticulture department.

The Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department Apoorba Roy said that 148379 farmers incurred loss in their Kharif crop production due to the deadly flood. The farmers incurred a loss of around Rs 943.59 crore, he said, adding that 7929 farmers engaged in organic farming incurred a loss of around Rs 68.80 crore. Agricultural land of at least 41521 farmers were affected by the flood and they incurred a loss of Rs 163.78 crore, while 15124 farmers were affected by landslides and they incurred a loss of Rs 90.12 crore, he said.

The Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department said that according to the rules of SDRF and NDRF, the amount of financial assistance in terms of agricultural and horticultural crops in rain-fed areas is Rs 8500 per hectares of land, while in terms of irrigated land area the amount is Rs 17000 and in terms of perennial crops the amount of assistance is Rs 22000.

In addition to this, the amount of assistance per hectare of land for damage to land and reservoir due to accumulation of sand, gravel and silt is Rs 18000 and Rs 47000 per hectare for damage due to landslides.

As such, a proposal for assistance of Rs 128 crore 80 lakh 43 thousand from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has been sent to the State Revenue Department. Out of this, 113 crore rupees for agriculture sector and 15 crore 80 lakh 43 thousand rupees for horticulture and gardening, he told reporters.

The secretary said that 123 metric tons of high-yielding Aman rice seeds have already been distributed to the affected farmers from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Paddy seedlings have been produced and distributed to nearby Aman paddy farmers free of cost by setting up nurseries in 10 hectares area in various government agricultural farms of the state, he added.

He said that the Department of Horticulture and Land Conservation has already taken the initiative to distribute 400 seedlings of 16 lakh winter vegetables to 4000 affected farmers of the state. In South Tripura, Gomti and Sepahijala districts 51700 saplings have been distributed free of cost to the farmers from Jumerdhepa Vegetable Excellence Center.