THANJAVUR/TIRUVARUR: Farmers in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur on Tuesday requested the Inter-ministerial Central team that is assessing drought in the State to provide at least the cultivation cost of the samba as compensation as they lost the entire crop due to drought and non-availability of Cauvery water.
The team led by Vasudha Mishra, Managing Director, National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), comprising Deena Nath, Consultant, Finance Commission Division of the Finance ministry, and Sumeet Kumar, Deputy Director, Ministry of Power, on Tuesday stopped at Kovilpathu village in Budalur block and listened to the farmers.
They inspected the field of T Sudan where the 90-100-day-old crop in maturing stage was severely affected by the drought. Agriculture Department officials said that of the 323 hectares normal area in the village, only 144 hectares was sown and more than 90 per cent of the crops were damaged.
Farmers V Jeevakumar, Thozhagiripatti Govindaraj and Azhagiya Manavalan said that they had lost their entire investment on paddy and claimed that the compensation announced by the State government was meagre. They sought to provide the cultivation cost and waive off all loans taken by farmers from banks. They also sought constitution of the Cauvery Management Board.
When the central team stopped at Pudhupattinam village, R Jayasankar of Kokkeri village who cultivated in five acres of the land told the team that for the last five years, he had lost his Kuruvai and this year, Samba too was lost.