Seeking relief for crops that were destroyed due to fire and trespassing of wild animals, the farmers appealed to the district administration to give them adequate compensation here on Friday.
Speaking at the farmers’ grievance meeting, chaired by Collector K. V. Muralidharan and senior officials from the Forest, PWD, Agriculture, Horticulture and other departments, the farmers said that harvester machines were not adequately available with the Agriculture Engineering Department for rent.
The Collector, who intervened, said that various measures were being taken in favour of the farmers in the district by the officials. Listing them, he said that encroachments were removed on waterbodies, strict vigil was maintained on sales points at fertiliser dealer outlets in the district, quality control teams from the Agriculture department were monitoring seeds and other produce sold through the cooperative outlets and among others.
Above all, the Collector said that the government had provided water for irrigation without interruption and on time. This, he said, had come as a big motivator for the small and marginal farmers to raise their crops with higher yield.
The government, Mr. Muralidharan said had proposed to encourage progressive farmers who introduced latest techniques in their farming activities. Those farmers who exported their produce would also be qualified for a prize money of ₹1 lakh. He appealed to the farmers to apply for the prizes and bring laurels to the district.
The farmers’ associations congratulated the Collector, who had received an award from Chief Minister M. K. Stalin recently at the Collectors’ conference held in Chennai.
The district had raised 47,144 hectares of multiple produce including paddy in 13,230 ha, 2743 ha of cotton and 2702 ha of sugarcane and among others. The district, which has an annual average rainfall of 829.80 mm, had only 6.58 mm rain in March (so far) against the normal average rain of 59.2 mm. The officials also informed that farmers can complain about erring fertiliser dealers at 9894947952.
