We've told states to let us know what else they require to help stricken farmers: Radha Mohan Singh

Interview with Union minister of agriculture

The recent rain and hail in several parts of the country are estimated to have damaged the standing crop on 10.6 million hectares. In an interaction with Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said the impact on production will be known only after the central teams submit its reports. Edited excerpts:

In the ministry's revised assessment, the impact on crops due to unseasonal rain and hail is on 10 million hectares. How much will this affect final production?

Actual assessment will be after all our teams visit the affected areas. However, that has not held us back from providing relief. We were prompt in asking state governments to use the State Disaster Response Fund for helping farmers. And, to use the contingency fund. We've also urged them to send their requests for additional money as soon as possible. Within days we had dispatched our  officials to the affected states to get a first-hand information of the situation.

How many states have sent you a formal detailing of the losses?

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have sent a memorandum and we are dispatching a central team. All our inter-ministerial central teams are ready. As soon as we get a formal memorandum from a state, we will send teams for assessment of the loss.

Farmers have complained that compensation given under disaster response is too low and does not meet their requirement.

We are in the process of increasing the compensation prescribed under the National Disaster Response Fund and were waiting for the financial year to end. At present, farmers get between Rs 4,500 to Rs 12,000 a hectare, depending on whether the land is irrigated or not. All this is in the process of being substantially increased. In the past 60-odd years, unseasonal rain and hail were never included on the list of natural calamities. We realised the importance of the problem and included this on the list.

In Uttar Pradesh, there have been reports of several farmers committing suicide after their crops failed due to these rains. What is the government's response? While the death of even a single farmer is a matter of grave concern, this question should also be directed to the state government. Despite allowing them to utilise SDRF immediately after the unseasonal rains, why could relief not reach the growers? On the ground, it depends on how state governments react to a calamity.