A group of sugarcane farmers in Theni district wanted an exemption from collection of toll fee at the toll collection plazas when they transport the produce from the fields to the crushing unit here on Friday.
They made this demand at the farmers’ grievance redressal meeting that was chaired by Theni Collector K. V. Muralidharan at the Collectorate and in which senior officials from the Forest, Civil Supplies, Agriculture, Revenue, Rural Development, PWD and others participated.
The farmers said that as majority of the crushing units took their own time to settle dues, the government should at least allow them to the produce without paying toll at the toll plazas.
While the officials campaigned for enhancing crop coverage that has risen in Theni district, the farmers expected the government to give them more subsidy.
Officials said that 6,025 farmers who were eligible to get the PM’s financial assistance of ₹6,000, were yet to complete the e-KYC and appealed to them to approach any of the nearby e-seva centres to complete it.
Close to 97 farmers received crop insurance claims that were settled to the tune of ₹14.74 lakh and they wanted the farmers to remit the premium of ₹2,730 at the earliest, especially, those who raised crops from December 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.
When some of the farmers raised the issue of non-availability of fertilisers and claimed that some outlets insisted on purchasing goods of their choice, the Collector intervened and said that strict action would be taken. He also said that all fertilisers were sufficiently available in the district. He directed the Assistant Director (Quality Control) to immediately take note of the complaints and also advised the farmers to call the officer concerned at 9488010197.
The district, had received 1279.68 mm of rain till December against the normal annual rainfall of 829.80 mm, which was 449.88 mm surplus. Similarly, for January, against the normal rainfall of 29.8 mm, the district had so far received 4.01 mm only. The district has raised paddy in 13,019 hectares, minor millets in 13,021 ha, cotton in 4,090 ha and sugarcane in 2,440 ha, the officials said.
