The betel farmers urged the government to take steps to prevail upon the European countries for lifting the ban on import of betel leaves from India.
In a petition to District Collector N. Subbaiyan at the grievances day meeting here on Monday, the betel farmers, led by P. Sukumaran, deputy secretary of the Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Protection Association, said that betel leaf was a major crop in parts of Tiruchi, Karur, Dindigul, and major areas in Tiruvaiyaru, Papanasam, and Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district.
Although no credit facility was available for the crop, farmers were raising it using bio-technique and most of them were lessees. This was the second crop to be axed because of the ban on import by European countries, they said and added that this had badly hit their livelihood.
The petition sought the intervention of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for solving this issue in the interest of a large number of betel farmers.
