THOOTHUKUDI: Farmers of Thoothukudi who had insured their crops under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), a government-sponsored crop insurance scheme, received their claim for the crops damaged during the recent floods.
Based on the crop damage survey conducted by the horticulture department officials, IFFCO-Tokio general insurance company, the authorised agency for Thoothukudi district, released Rs 5.39 lakh to 12 banana farmers, Rs 90.18 lakh to 700 coriander farmers, Rs 5.27 crore to 3,760 onion farmers and Rs 8.32 crore to 5,456 red chilli farmers, whose crops were completely damaged in the torrential rains in December 2023.
Similarly, the insurance company also released relief for crop damage in 2022-23, which includes Rs 4.13 crore for 8,092 cotton farmers, Rs 4.29 crore for 3147 maize farmers, Rs 22.22 lakh for 1237 onion farmers, and Rs 7.34 crore for 6632 red chilli farmers.
When asked for insurance relief for the remaining crops, an official said that the assistant directors and agricultural officers have been instructed to submit crop-cutting experiments (CCE) for black gram and green gram by January 21. The claims will be forwarded to the insurance company concerned after that, and relief would be released expeditiously, she said.
"The state disaster management department should also release compensation for the crop damages caused by recent floods," appealed farmer Varadharajan of Karisal Boomi Vivasayigal Sangam. It may be noted that the state government had earlier announced a compensation of Rs 8,500 per hectare damaged in the floods.