The 2025 monsoon season was one of the heaviest in recent times, with extreme, localized rain and floods that have devastated kharif crops across several states.
- In Maharashtra, heavy September rains damaged around 28 lakh hectares of crop area, roughly 30% of the state’s cropped area, damaging soybean, cotton, pulses, pearl millet (bajra) and paddy. In the past 9 years, Maharashtra alone reported losses pegged at ₹54,600 crore.
- In Punjab, unusually severe flooding submerged lakhs of hectares of paddy and sugarcane at the stage before harvest. The Punjab government announced ₹20,000 per acre as initial compensation for fully damaged plots.
- Across other states (Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh) combined flood and unseasonal rain episodes affected millions of hectares of paddy, soyabean, pulses and horticulture.
Government Assessment and Compensation
State | Affected Areas | Major Crops | Compensation Announced (₹) |
| Maharashtra |
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| Punjab | Lakhs of hectares submerged across multiple districts |
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| Madhya Pradesh |
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| NA |
| Gujarat | Localised flooding in coastal regions and Saurashtra |
| ₹1,420 crore relief package in 2024 (The Federal) |
| Uttarakhand | Floods and landslides affected thousands of hectares of terraces and orchards in 2025. |
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| Himachal Pradesh | Hill districts experienced landslides and flooding. |
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Farmers' Demands
Yet farmers’ unions and opposition leaders have demanded far higher payouts, arguing that official compensation figures underestimate the real replacement costs. Farmers must account not only for damage to the standing crop, but also the costs of preparing the land again and re-sowing, which includes seeds, fertlisers, pesticides and labour.
- In Maharashtra, farmers are calling for ₹50,000 per hectare plus full loan waivers and rehabilitation.
- Farmers' unions in Punjab say real losses may exceed ₹70,000 per hectare, aggregating to ₹40,000 crore.
Unfortunately, political friction has occasionally surfaced. For example, during a field visit, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar faced hostile audiences over loan waiver demands and responded sharply to a protesting farmer — a volatile situation with rising discontent among farmers over slow and inadequate relief.
What the Statistics Mean
The pattern of losses in 2025 shows vulnerability of India’s kharif crops (paddy, soyabean, cotton) to episodes of extreme rainfall and floods. While farmer demands for loan waivers and compensation packages reflect acute distress; policymakers have to balance this with fiscal realism and the needs of other stakeholders in the state.
The statistics above point to urgent policy priorities:
| Transparent and Adequate Crop Insurance | There is a need to scale up crop insurance through public and private players by
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| Faster electronic payouts | These can be enabled through the Jan Dhan - Aadhar - Mobile (JAM) framework for welfare payments. |
| Remote Sensing-linked Calculation | While advanced remote sensing technology is available, it must be linkd to measurements of the precise acreage affected, to minimise waste and yet offer adequate relief to farmers. |
| Inflation-adjusted relief | Calculations for per-hectare relief thresholds in declared calamities must take inflation into account, not just ad-hoc payments. |
| Climate-resilient infrastructure | There is a need to fund drainage and embankments to minimise damage to standing crops and allow quick re-sowing. |
