Against the normal average rainfall of 829.80 mm, Theni district recorded 1,391.65 mm, which was 561.85 mm surplus, according to Collector K.V. Muralidharan.
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Presiding over the monthly farmers’ grievance meeting at the Collectorate on Friday, he said the normal average rainfall for December was 56.2 mm, while 118.4 mm had been recorded till now, which was 62.20 mm surplus. Hence, farmers must make use of the availability of water judiciously and benefit with high yield.
When some farmers complained about crop damage during the northeast monsoon, the Collector suggested that they look for alternative crops. By switching over to alternative produce, they could avoid loss from conventional paddy and other varieties.
The district, according to agriculture and horticulture department officials, had 42,157 hectares of coverage including paddy (10,239 ha), cotton (2682 ha) and sugarcane (2598 ha).
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Responding to complaints from some farmers about fertilizer dealers, Mr. Muralidharan said after carrying out simultaneous checks between December 16 and 19, the licence of 11 dealers was cancelled and 21 others had been let off with a warning. The farmers could lodge their complaint on the issue on 83001-08666 or 98949-47952 (Assistant Director, Quality Control).
They were also asked to remit the premium for crop insurance before December 31.
District Forest Officer S. Vidya, Periyakulam Sub-Collector C.A. Rishabh, DRO T. Subramanian, PA to Collector (Agriculture) R. Vishnuram Methi, RDO B. Kousalya, Joint Director (Agriculture) T. Alagu Nagendran and others participated.