MADURAI: The State Government is keen to get higher compensation for farmers affected by floods from the national calamity relief fund, Commissioner for Agriculture Jagmohan Singh Raju said on Wednesday.

The compensation fixed under the calamity relief fund norms is Rs. 1,000 per acre for irrigated crop and Rs. 400 for rain-fed crop.However, the State Government had demanded that these be hiked to Rs. 8,000 and Rs. 4,000, he told The Hindu here after inspecting several flood affected districts for the second day on Wednesday.

Mr. Raju met the Collectors of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvallur, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga and discussed the extent of the damage.

Crop on 3.29 lakh hectares had been affected according to preliminary assessment, he said. "The exact picture of the nature and extent of damage will be known only after the field-to-field assessment is completed."

Special teams under Assistant Directors of Agriculture and comprising officials from the department, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Krishi Vigyan Kendra and Horticulture Department, were expected to complete the assessment by December 12.

Apart from crop loss, the department was also enumerating the damage caused to open wells, tube wells, electric and diesel motors and farm ponds, Mr. Raju said.

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