SRINAGAR: As per the damage report prepared by the Agriculture Department Kashmir, the floods have damaged agricultural crops across the Valley extensively. Out of the 3 lakh Ha cropped area in Kashmir division around 1.35 lakh Ha have been fully damaged and the remaining 1.65 lakh Ha have been severely affected due to incessant rains, drop in temperature and disease.
The loss in terms of production has been assessed at 8,54,213 MT in respect of cereals, 5,08,492 MT in respect of vegetables, 14,02,472 MT of fodder, 1,773 MT of pulses and 11 MT of Saffron. The overall loss has been assessed as Rs 3,675 Cr.
As per the SDRF norms the department has calculated, the relief amount due to the farmers at Rs 217.42 Cr.
As per the report besides the crops the flood has also affected the agriculture land badly and large chunks of land have been washed away, whereas in many areas large quantity of silt has got deposited in agriculture fields, rendering 3,811 Ha of agriculture land uncultivable across the Valley, on the basis of initial survey.
To reclaim the damaged land extensive soil conservative measures would be required for which a plan to the tune of Rs 453.51 Cr has been formulated.
Similarly, the damages estimated to the departmental buildings, labs, farms and other infrastructure has been pegged at Rs 24.66 Cr.
The department has also formulated an assistance plan of Rs 64.17 Cr to assist the farmers by providing them free of cost seeds for the coming Rabi season, wherein Rabi crops are grown on approximately 1.3 lakh Ha of land. The free of cost seed assistance will cover an area of about 60,000 Ha and free fertiliser for all 1.3 lakh Ha in Kashmir Division.