Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister, M K Stalin, has declared a crop insurance compensation of Rs 560 crore for farmers in the state who suffered losses during the samba cultivation season in 2022-23 due to a rainfall deficit in the Northeast Monsoon. This amount will be directly deposited into the bank accounts of six lakh eligible farmers in districts affected by natural disasters like drought, floods, cyclones, and monsoon failures.
In the 2022-2023 season, 11.20 lakh farmers participated in the crop insurance scheme for paddy cultivation across 24.45 lakh acres. The state government offered a subsidy of Rs 1,375 crore from the total insurance sum of Rs 2,319 crore, while the central government contributed Rs 824 crore as an insurance premium subsidy, with farmers adding Rs 120 crore to the fund.
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Despite producing 46 lakh MT of paddy in 2022-23, certain districts, including Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Pudukottai, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, and Thoothukudi, experienced a rainfall deficit during the Northeast Monsoon, resulting in over 33 percent damage to crops across 3,52,797 acres due to moderate drought. On September 4, the Tamil Nadu government had previously provided relief of Rs 181.40 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund to 1,87,275 farmers.
