Cotton growers await compensation for losses

BOX---- biggest loss since 2015

Whitefly has caused losses to cotton crop in Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Bhiwani districts. The farmers might have suffered biggest ever losses since 2015 when whitefly had destroyed almost 70% of the crop in the region.

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, December 23

Farmers who suffered losses to their cotton crop due to whitefly attack earlier this year are still waiting for compensation from the government or insurance agencies.

The farmers said they had submitted a report about the crop loss immediately but were yet to get the grant.

Cotton growers have suffered the worst losses in the past five years as whitefly and other diseases have hit the crops hard in the Hisar region, known as the cotton belt of Haryana.

The state has a record 7.38 thousand hectares under cotton this kharif season. The state government had ordered a special girdawari after farmers demanded it to assess their losses and calculate compensation.

Sandeep Singh, a farmer of Dhiranwas village in Balsamand region, the worst affected area due to whitefly, said so far they had not received any compensation from the government. He said he had sown cotton in six acres and was able to reap only two to three quintals cotton per field.

“The average cotton yield is about 10 to 12 quintals per acre. We are unable to even recover the input cost, which has pushed many farmers of the region deeper in debt,” Sandeep said.

He said though the state agencies had started girdawari for the damage to crops, the farmers were being kept in dark.

“The officials are not disclosing anything about the survey report. We have raised the issue with the Deputy Commissioner and urged him to get the five-member committee, comprising of the land owner, nambardar etc, included during the girdawari for transparency in the whole affair,” Sandeep said.

District Revenue Officer Rajbir Dhiman said on the instruction of the state government, they were in the process of compiling a detailed report about the crop loss.

“We will disburse the compensation amount on completion of the ongoing process of assessment,” he said, adding that the crops which were insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna would be compensated by the insurance firms.

Official sources said whitefly has caused losses to cotton crop in Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Bhiwani districts. The farmers might have suffered biggest ever losses since 2015 when whitefly had destroyed almost 70 per cent of the crop in specific parts of the region.