Jaipur, Sep 28 (PTI) Farmers affected by the outbreak of pink bollworm in cotton crops in Hanumangarh and Ganganagar districts of Rajasthan will get relief within next 10 days, an official statement said Thursday.

The decision was taken by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during a review meeting on crop loss on Wednesday, the statement said.

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A total of 2.56 lakh hectare area is affected in both districts due to bollworm infestation, adversely impacting around 73,000 farmers.

Under the crop insurance scheme, farmers are entitled to compensation if the production of cotton crops is affected due to the outbreak of any insect disease. The affected farmers will be given a claim on the basis of average yield figures.

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In the meeting, Gehlot said that the state government is sensitive towards the farmers affected by crop failure.

He said that this year there has been continuous damage to crops due to abnormal rainfall in several districts.

In view of the damage, Gehlot has given instructions to provide relief to the farmers by getting girdawari (field inspection) done within the next 10 days.

It was told in the meeting that as per the State Disaster Response Fund rules, agricultural input grant of Rs 968.48 crore will be given to 10.61 lakh eligible farmers affected by natural disaster such as flood, drought, hailstorm, frost and cold wave in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Also, insurance claims worth Rs 1,895 crore for 2022-23 (Rabi) have been distributed to the farmers. The Chief Minister said that the pending insurance claims for Rabi year 2022-23 should be distributed to the farmers soon.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)