Unprecedented heavy rains lashed Goa over the last three weeks, causing flooding in low-lying areas across the State. Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, who also holds the agriculture portfolio, said though the government is short of funds they would try to release 50 per cent of the compensation to the farmers before the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
The minister also said that the government is considering changes to the agriculture loss compensation formula currently in place. He admitted that the State would look at revising the compensation ratio, which according to farmers is currently quite meagre. While farmers have always complained of the low compensation for agricultural losses, successive governments have not paid any heed to their requests.
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Not just before Ganesh Chaturthi, the farmers need government support to make two ends meet almost everyday. The State government in a bid to provide relief to farmers, especially in view of mining crisis, requires long term sustainable solutions instead of short term rhetorical promises and reactive concessions. The government needs to do much more than just promises. Currently, farmers in areas that have faced more than 50% crop damage are entitled to a compensation of Rs  4,500 per hectare (ha) for rain-fed crops and Rs 9,000 per ha for irrigated crops. This is kind of well, just peanuts. Moreover, ‘farm distress’ in recent years has been partly on account of this situation, as the loss of income is beyond the ability, particularly of small farmers, to absorb.