Unseasonal rains damaged crops, report from states awaited: Tomar

New Delhi: The government on Saturday claimed that crops have been damaged by unseasonal rains, but there is no clarity about the extent of the losses as no report has yet come from the states about the damage.

While briefing reporters about Prime Minister Narenda Modi's plan to inaugurate PM Kisan Samman Sammelan on Monday, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the PM will release Rs 16,000 crore as part of the PM-KISAN scheme's 12th installment for more than eight crore farmers.

The PM is also scheduled to inaugurate 600 PM Kisan Samruddhi Kendras (PM-KSK) of Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers and launch Bharat urea bags, which is India's biggest move in fertilizers - One Nation One Fertilizer Scheme for farmers under the banner of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna (PM-BJP), which was earlier proposed to be launched on October 1.

In reply to a question on the losses due to untimely rains, Tomar said, "Definitely,

crops have been damaged due to the unseasonal rains. The survey is under way and we are waiting for reports from the States to assess the extent of damage."

"Farmers are dependent on the monsoon, which is unpredictable", he said, adding that despite all measures in place, cultivators are at the mercy of nature.

The State governments have State Disaster Relief Funds which they can use for providing compensation to

farmers. More funds from the National Disaster

Relief Fund will be released after the due process of assessing the extent of damage, he said, adding that the minimum support price (MSP) of rabi crops will be announced very soon.

According to Agriculture Ministry data released on Friday, sowing of rabi crops, especially oilseeds and pulses, has begun across the country and about 7.34 lakh hectares have been covered so far.

Wheat is the main rabi (winter) crop but its sowing data has not yet been reported from the states.