Bhubaneswar: Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, announced on Saturday that the government is fully prepared to provide support and assistance to farmers whose crops were damaged by Cyclone Dana. Singh Deo made the announcement while presiding over a review meeting at Krushi Bhavan to assess the crop damage caused by the cyclone.
According to an official press release, district-level officers will conduct field assessments and submit geo-tagged reports of the damaged crops to the government and agriculture department once the rains subside. Decisions on necessary assistance will be made based on these reports.
The review meeting was attended by Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department; Prem Chandra Choudhary, Director of Agriculture; Nikhil Pawan Kalyan, Director of Horticulture; and CDAOs, who joined virtually.
Cyclone Dana has affected 14 districts in the state, with the most significant crop damage occurring in Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, and Mayurbhanj.
In Bhadrak district, 88,594 hectares of land in 7 blocks have been submerged, with 24,827 hectares estimated to be impacted.
Similarly, Kendrapara has seen 28,426 hectares affected across 8 blocks, while Jajpur district has experienced submersion in 17,666 hectares, with 2,709 hectares impacted.
In Mayurbhanj district, 1,872 hectares are submerged, with an estimated 2,381 hectares affected across 16 blocks. In Balasore district, 4,396 hectares across 12 blocks have been submerged, with 3,140 hectares affected.
According to government guidelines, small and marginal farmers with up to 2 hectares of farmland and who experience more than 33 percent crop loss due to natural calamities are eligible for compensation. Assistance amounts are set at Rs 8,500 per hectare for rainfed areas, Rs 17,000 for assured irrigated areas, and Rs 22,500 for perennial crops. Dr Padhee noted that final decisions regarding the assistance will be made after receiving the district-level reports.
