Kerala Flood Damage Nears ₹100 Crore; State Seeks ₹110 Crore from Centre

Kerala Agriculture Minister T Siddique on Friday placed the preliminary estimate of crop losses from the current spell of rain and flooding at ₹99.29 crore, with the damage assessment still incomplete. As of Thursday, 36,829 farmers had been directly affected and crop damage had been confirmed across 3,264 hectares of agricultural land.

Siddique was clear that these numbers would rise. "This is only a preliminary assessment, and the figure is expected to increase as more reports come in," he told reporters. The hardest-hit regions include Alappuzha, Kuttanad, Wayanad, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam — districts the minister has specifically asked a Central assessment team to visit for physical verification.

Siddique confirmed he has written to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking ₹110 crore in emergency assistance. The breakdown requested:

• ₹100 crore towards compensation for crop losses
• ₹10 crore for soil fertility restoration, resumption of cultivation, and farmer support

The minister flagged soil nutrient depletion as a particularly serious post-flood challenge. "One of the major problems after floods is the loss of soil nutrients, which affects future farming. We need urgent assistance to restore agricultural land and enable farmers to resume cultivation," he said. Soil testing facilities are to be established across all flood-affected areas under a mission-mode programme.

Siddique also requested that the Centre dispatch a field assessment team at the earliest, a prerequisite under the national disaster relief mechanism before Central funds can be released.

A significant overhang complicates the state's relief efforts. Siddique acknowledged that crop compensation linked to natural disasters has been pending since 2022, describing the backlog as "substantial" and pledging that measures to clear it without further delay are under active consideration.

On the current cycle, farmers must first register losses at the local Krishi Bhavan; officials then carry out field verification before details are uploaded to the agriculture department's portal and linked to the crop loss compensation scheme. The minister said this process typically takes around three weeks, though he added that farmers need not wait the full period before registering their claims. Steps to expedite verification — in coordination with the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) and financial institutions — are being examined.

A special meeting of financial institutions — covering cooperative banks, nationalised banks, the Agriculture Department, the Finance Department and other agencies — has been convened for Monday to examine options for affected farmers, including loan restructuring, easing of existing debt burdens, and facilitating fresh credit wherever required. Siddique described this as the first initiative of its kind in a flood situation.

Separately, the state Cabinet has approved a 25 per cent increase in the compensation rate for crop losses caused by natural calamities, including floods — a measure intended to make relief payments more meaningful in an era of rising input costs.

The minister also announced that ₹20 crore has been earmarked for market intervention ahead of Onam, with 2,000 Onam markets to be organised through Horticorp and the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) to contain vegetable price spikes during the festival season.

Kerala's response strategy rests on three concurrent tracks: securing Central financial assistance at pace, restoring the productive capacity of flooded farmland through mission-mode soil testing, and stabilising consumer prices during the Onam season to prevent compounding distress for farmers who are also vendors.

The minister was emphatic that the state was not waiting passively for New Delhi's response. "We are exploring every possible option to support farmers. The meeting with financial institutions will examine all issues… This is the first initiative of its kind in such a situation," Siddique said.

With the 'Chingam 1' agricultural celebrations scheduled for August 17 in Kochi — to be inaugurated by Chief Minister V D Satheesan and held during the UN's Year of the Woman Farmer — the government is also rolling out farmer-focused programmes including the Krishi Sakhi project for women farmers, even as relief operations continue in the field.