THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar will call on Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on October 8 pressing for Central assistance to prop up the state’s flood-ravaged farm sector.
According to the minister, the farm sector has sustained losses to the tune of Rs 19,000 crore in the floods. This includes losses reported in the plantation and spices sectors, the minister said. The department will apply to the Centre for a one-time grant whereby the Central share in Centrally-funded farm-related schemes is hiked to 100 per cent from 60:40 ratio that is the norm.
“We will also ask the Centre for maintaining the Centre-state ratio for such schemes at 90:10 for the next five years,” Sunil Kumar said. Other requests concern aid for the farm sector from various agencies including that of the UN.
KAU SUBMITS REPORT
The Agriculture Department will roll out a field-level action plan by the second week of October to revive the flood-hit sector, Sunil Kumar said. The plan, prompted by a report on the impact of floods on the sector submitted by the Kerala Agriculture University, will be location-specific as the floods have affected different regions in different ways.
For immediate relief, the department will utilise Rs 200 crore, sourced from the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) and by tweaking its own plan funds. The report points out the acidity levels in the soil have increased. In the high ranges where the top soil was washed away, the soil has lost micro-nutrient content and other elements like nitrogen, phosphorus and boron.