Jagan Mohan Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister transferred Rs 22 crore in the bank accounts of 34,586 farmers on Tuesday to compensate for agricultural losses caused by Cyclone Gulab in September.
"62 percent of the population in the state depends on agriculture for their livelihood," the chief minister said. "If a farmer is in trouble, the rural economy will be severely impacted, yet no one cares for the farmer." "We as a government will continue to take proactive steps to benefit the farmers of the state, and help them in every way we can," he added.
The Andhra Pradesh government claimed in a news release that the economic effect of cyclone Gulab, which slammed the shores of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, was significant, with farmers bearing the brunt of it.
"Gulab is a one-of-a-kind cyclone since it made landfall in Andhra Pradesh, spanned wide swaths of India, and then went out into the Arabian Sea over Maharashtra before intensifying again. Agriculture is thought to be responsible for the majority of the losses. Gulab brought the strongest winds to Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, as well as floods to the East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur, Krishna, Prakasam, Srikakulam, and Visakhapatnam districts, ”according to the statement.
In Andhra Pradesh, the crops to be planted were in their last stages when Cyclone Gulab struck. Standing crops were washed away by severe rain. There was a lot of water stagnation, which harmed all crops, even those that were in blossoming phases, save from paddy.
"The disbursement of Crop Loss Compensation (Input subsidy) for actual cultivators based on e-crop registration, most transparently, after due display of the list of beneficiaries in Village Secretariats is one of the measures taken by the Andhra Pradesh government to provide immediate relief to farmers affected by recent rains and floods. They formed teams to analyse agricultural losses caused by severe rainfall in the previous two weeks," the statement read.
Farmers were also given seeds at subsidised prices by the government.
When Cyclone Nivar struck Andhra Pradesh in 2020, farmers lost 12.01 lakh acres of crops; to compensate, the state government distributed Rs 654.99 crores to 8.34 lakh farmers. Since the new government took office, a total of Rs. 1,071 crore has been handed to 13.96 lakh farmers as crop loss compensation.
