Unseasonal rains in March damaged over 42,000 hectares of crops in Gujarat: Govt

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government has announced that more than 42,000 hectares of crops and horticultural produce in 15 districts were damaged due to unseasonal rains in March.

Financial assistance will be provided to the affected farmers, announced spokesperson Minister Rushikesh Patel, who also serves as a government spokesperson. The issue was discussed in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar, he added.

According to Patel, in order for a farmer to be eligible for assistance, their crop loss must be more than 33 percent, as per the SDRF norms. A survey conducted by the government found that 42,201 hectares of farmland suffered more than 33 percent damage due to unseasonal rains in March, which affected 2,785 villages in 15 districts, including Ahmedabad, Banaskantha, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Junagadh, and Bharuch.

Patel informed that financial assistance will be provided to farmers who suffered more than 33 percent loss in accordance with the SDRF norms. The survey in these 15 districts has been completed, but a separate survey to assess the damage to mango orchards in Valsad is ongoing. Patel stated that from March 4 to 24, unseasonal rains ranging from 1 mm to 47 mm affected 198 talukas in 30 out of 33 districts in Gujarat, and 34 talukas in ten districts received more than 10 mm of rainfall. DeshGujarat