NAGAPATTINAM: Farmers said the TVK government’s maiden agriculture budget has failed to address pressing issues and their hopes have withered just as their standing kuruvai crop.
The farmers pointed to the absence of announcements on declaring the Cauvery delta drought-hit despite kuruvai cultivation being abandoned in several areas this year due to the non-release of Cauvery water. They said budget was silent on Mekedatu dam issue, did not extend the kuruvai special package to samba cultivation, and had not announced drought relief of Rs 25,000/acre for affected farmers.
The disappointment comes amid a sharp decline in kuruvai cultivation in Nagapattinam, where coverage has shrunk to around 1,118.5 hectares this year from around 30,000 hectares in 2025 due to the delay in opening of Mettur dam. Even the limited acreage raised using groundwater has come under severe stress, with standing crops withering because of prolonged dry weather, intense heat and rapidly depleting groundwater levels.
A Nedumaran, a farmer from Tirumarugal block in Nagapattinam, said he had given up hope of salvaging his kuruvai crop after the paddy on his 14 acres withered. “All the crops I sowed have withered under the impact of intense heat, scanty rainfall and depleting watertable,” he said.
S R Tamilselvan of Tamil Nadu Farmers Protection Association said the budget has failed to acknowledge the gravity of the crisis in the delta. He also reiterated the farmers’ demand to extend all benefits under the kuruvai special package scheme to samba, saying thousands of farmers who could not raise kuruvai because of the absence of Cauvery water would otherwise be deprived of government assistance. P Kamal Ram, a farmer from Thalainayar, urged the government to compensate farmers who were unable to cultivate kuruvai or suffered crop losses and to take immediate steps to support upcoming samba season.
Farmers also expressed disappointment over the absence of an announcement fixing minimum support price for paddy at Rs 3,500/quintal and sugarcane at Rs 4,500/tonne, as promised in the TVK’s election manifesto. They said the budget did not reflect the crop loan waiver promised in the manifesto and overlooked the immediate challenges confronting agriculture.