Lucknow, Mar 24 (IANS): The Centre has released Rs 462 crore to be given as compensation to as many as 9,03,336 farmers in Uttar Pradesh who faced crop losses during the natural calamities last year.

A total compensation of Rs 1,260 crore was released by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar for six states through the crop insurance portal.

The amount has been calculated on the basis of yield through crop cutting experiments.

State Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi said that an amount of Rs 134.25 crore have already been paid by insurance companies to 2.18 lakh farmers as partial compensation in the mid-term.

Thus, a total amount of Rs 597.05 crore have been given directly to the farmers as compensation for the kharif 2022 season. The amount has been paid through DBT.

Shahi said that in the event of a disaster, the information about personal damage to farmers should be given within 72 hours.

There is a provision to give compensation in gram panchayat if the sowing is reduced to 60 per cent. Hence more farmers will get benefit and credibility in the scheme will increase, Shahi said.

The Minister said that the premium should be made available to the insurance company within the stipulated time so that farmers are not deprived of the benefits of the scheme.

He said that it should also be ensured that the compensation amount is paid to the farmers through the portal within one month of harvesting.