Hooda announces Rs 12.67 Cr package for flood-hit farmers

 The package includes subsidized seeds of various kharif and vegtables crops.
Making the announcement today, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said under the package 75 per cent subsidy will be given on the seeds of Basmati varieties such as CSR-30, HBC-19, PB-1, PRH-10 and PUSA-1121 to the flood-hit farmers so that they might raise fresh nurseries of paddy wherever feasible or for direct seeding of these basmati varieties.

Seeds of alternate crops like toria, hybrid bajra and jowar in the form of minikits will also be given free of cost to farmers in the affected areas, besides giving them 90 per cent subsidy on seeds of hybrid maize and 75 per cent subsidy on mong/urd so that no area was left unsown in the flood affected districts, he said.

The Chief Minister also announced to give 75 per cent subsidy on the seeds of vegetable like bhindi, brinjal, cucumber, chilli, cucurbits, capsicum, leafy vegetables, radish carrot, arbi.
The government has already converted short term cooperative loans, amounting of Rs 201.21 crore into medium term cooperative loans in flood affected districts, besides deferring the recovery of long term cooperative loans involving Rs 27.28 crore of farmers of the flood affected districts for a period of one year, he said.

Various kharif crops including paddy, cotton, pulses and fodder and vegetable crops have been damaged due to heavy rains leading to flash floods in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Karnal districts of the state.

As per the data received from the field staff, paddy has been damaged in an area of 93815 hectares in the flood affected districts whereas cotton has been damaged in 9000 hectares of land in the state. Besides fruits and vegetables, fodder crops are also damaged in an area of 11464 hectares due to heavy downpour.