CHENNAI: Amidst complaints of accumulating losses due to damage to crops and rotting of harvested paddy due to rains by farmers in Tamil Nadu's Cauvery delta districts, the opposition AIADMK on Monday sought Chief Minister M K Stalin's immediate intervention to compensate ryots for crop loss and also for expeditious procurement of 1,500 paddy bags daily.
The move would provide some respite to farmers who have been incurring losses due to damage to their crops owing to rains and incentivise their efforts to produce the food grains overcoming all odds, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam said.
"I urge the Chief Minister to meet the farmers' expectations by immediately intervening to provide adequate compensation to them for damage to their crops," Panneerselvam said.
Also, the Chief minister should take steps to procure at least 1,500 paddy bags per day through the direct paddy procurement centres (DPCs) in order to save the grains from rotting due to rains or stagnant water, the AIADMK top leader said in a statement here.
Farmers in the delta districts of Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai have been complaining that the harvest-ready Samba paddy crop on several hectares have been affected due to recent rains.
They had sought compensation from the government. Pointing out that the farmers in the state have been facing losses due to rains from last year, Panneerselvam claimed that the ryots were yet to be compensated for the loss they incurred in 2021.
The government had announced a relief of Rs 20,000 per hectare to farmers for the crop completely damaged due to heavy rains in October and November last year.
"Though input cost of Rs 6,038 per hectare was announced to raise the current Samba paddy crop, following rains, the government on January 20 informed that input cost would be provided as relief instead," Panneerselvam claimed.
But no compensation has been paid to farmers for 2021 or January 2022, he alleged and added that the delta districts farmers in Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai claimed Samba and other crops cultivated on 10 lakh acres that are ready for harvest, have been affected due to rains.