Farmers across Gujarat who suffered losses in the recent heavy rainfall and subsequent floods will be granted relief in a couple of days, suggested state agriculture minister Raghavji Patel on Thursday. Patel said this on the sidelines of the annual general meeting (AGM) of Shree Gujarat Rajya Udvahan Piyat Sahkari Sangh Limited — a federation of cooperatives of lift irrigation in Gujarat — held in Gandhinagar. Replying to a query regarding when will the state government provide relief to the farmers affected by the recent floods, Patel said, “Farmers will get good news (related to the relief package for the losses sustained in flooding) in a day or two.” In August, several districts in Gujarat had witnessed very heavy rainfall triggering floods and causing heavy losses. Following the flooding, a central government team had also visited the state to survey the extent of damage. During the function, the agriculture minister informed that the central government is going to start procurement of cotton from farmers through Cotton Corporation of India at a minimum support price (MSP) from October 1. This procurement, he added, “will be done from 13 centres being set up in the state”. He said similarly procurement of groundnut will also be done when the Centre takes a decision on the total quantity of groundnut to be procured from Gujarat. Patel also addressed the AGM of the federation in which he highlighted the important role that the cooperatives of lift irrigation could play in making farmers prosperous. Despite many government schemes, the farmer is not getting desired prosperity owing to dependence on nature and rain, he said. In such a situation, he added, if the irrigation network could be expanded, then farmers can become “prosperous and happy”.
