Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish said on Friday said that 185 tanks would be desilted under the kudimaramathu scheme in the district.
During the farmers' grievance redressal meeting, the Collector said that action would be taken if the silt was used for commercial purposes. Passes would be issued to regulate who can use the silt, she added.
Further, she said that farmers in 218 revenue villages can insure their crops at a premium of ₹564 per acre by August 16 for their kharif paddy crop as per the notification.
Ms. Shilpa said that crop insurance for the fall armyworm attack of ₹6.56 crore had been received.
Inferior quality seed
Further, the Collector said that 607 seed samples were taken from 532 seed centres in the district for testing. During tests on 540 samples, nine of them were found to be of inferior quality. Departmental action has been initiated against the sellers of eight of the samples, while legal action has been initiated against one of them. A total of 4,954 kg of seeds have been banned for sale, she added.
Further, she said that agricultural produce should not be sold based on the number of sacks but should be weighed before being sold in private markets.
She said that more than 80,000 farmers in the district have registered themselves so far under the PM-Kisan scheme. Those who have yet to be registered should provide their details with the VAO.
In order to prevent the entry of elephants into farmlands along the Western Ghats, chemicals would be used to ward them off, said the Collector. For this purpose, 50 litres of a certain chemical product, which would not affect humans or animals, has been procured at a cost of ₹70,000, she added.
Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam district secretary Madasamy said that the arid Veerakeralampudur area should be included in Tirunelveli district after its bifurcation.
Crop insurance
Shanmugasundaram, the Sankarankovil panchayat union secretary of the association, said that many farmers were yet to receive the crop insurance amount for 2016-17 in Sankarankovil and Kadayanallur taluks for black grams, and demanded swift disbursal of the amount.
Karuppasamy, district deputy secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, said that all the resources required to combat the attack of fall armyworm should be given at a subsidised price. People who have joint pattas should also receive benefits from the PM-Kisan scheme, he added.
