VIJAYAWADA: Horticulture crops on 537.16 hectares of land have been damaged in the State due to drought this year. Horticulture department officials said a total input subsidy of Rs 99.45 lakh would be paid to farmers.
The State government had already declared a total of 296 mandals in Nellore, Prakasam, Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapur and Chittoor districts as drought-affected. The farmers ,who suffered more than 33 per cent crop loss are eligible for compensation.
Chiranjiv Choudhary, Commissioner of Horticulture, said, “We have received reports of crop damage from Collectors of six districts. With more irrigation facilities and micro-irrigation techniques, we were able to reduce crop damage to a great extent this year.
Construction of farms ponds in the fields also help in reducing crop loss due to drought.” He stressed that innovative farming methods such as Zeba, which enhances moisture retention capacity of soil, also helped.