Kathmandu, August 27 The Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) has announced a subsidy package worth Rs 1.25 billion targeting farmers affected by the recent floods in the Tarai. The subsidy package unveiled by Minister for Agricultural Development Ramkrishna Yadav today with an objective to heal the plight of flood-affected farmers and boost agricultural production in the country includes distributing hybrid seeds of paddy, maize, wheat and vegetables to farmers free of cost. Similarly, the government is also distributing free vegetable seedlings to farmers under this package to increase production of vegetables in the country. Under the same package, MoAD has also announced that it will provide Rs 250,000 for the construction of a food market in every flood-affected district to ensure that agricultural production of farmers has access to the market. In a bid to encourage farmers who have incurred losses in fishery in the monsoon disaster a few weeks ago, the government has also announced that it will provide Rs 50,000 per hectare to affected farmers to purchase fishlings and reconstruct their ponds. Likewise, the MoAD will also facilitate flood-affected farmers to ensure that they can avail loans from banks and financial institutions at lower interest rates. The MoAD has given the responsibility to the District Natural Disaster Relief Committee (DNDRC) to identify the beneficiaries of this subsidy package of the government in each flood-affected district. “The District Administration Office will issue the aforementioned subsidy to affected farmers on the recommendation of DNDRC,” said Yogendra Karki, spokesperson for MoAD. However, MoAD has said that farmers should submit an application at the district administration office claiming the aforementioned subsidies which will be authenticated by DNDRC after verification. “In the case of fisheries that have been affected by the floods, the government will directly deposit Rs 50,000 in the bank account of the beneficiaries,” added Karki. The subsidy package is only applicable to farmers of 31 flood affected districts in the Tarai. The heavy rainfall in the country’s low-belt region in the second week of August affected more than 78,515 hectares of agriculture land. According to the preliminary report of MoAD, the monsoon calamity this year has swept away crops and fisheries worth more than Rs 8.5 billion. While the floods have swept away recently planted paddy worth almost Rs 3.2 billion in the Tarai, almost 1,334 hectares of land in the Tarai where fishery was being done has been flooded, causing a loss worth over Rs 800 million.