PERAMBALUR/ARIYALUR: Complaining that what little maize cultivation withstood drought-like conditions until a few weeks ago has now taken a hit from fall armyworm attack, around 200 farmers in Perambalur and Ariyalur submitted petitions at the respective district collectorate on Monday, seeking crop damage relief and disbursal of insurance claims.
According to Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department officials, maize cultivation was taken up over about 69,000 hectares in Perambalur this year while the crop acreage stood at about 21,000 hectares in neighbouring Ariyalur. Farmers, however, complain that half the cultivation was damaged owing to deficit rain during the southwest monsoon.
Adding to their woes, the crop that managed to endure the harsh conditions has been under attack from fall armyworms over the past 20 days, they said. Mentioning the application of pesticides having little impact owing to the intensity of the attack, around 100 farmers in Perambalur and around 80 in Ariyalur headed to the respective collectorate on Monday and submitted petitions seeking the government to release compensation for crop damage.
K Latha, a farmer from Chinna Venmani in Perambalur who was among the group that submitted the petition, said, “I planted maize on my six acres of land by spending `25,000 per acre. Despite the lack of monsoon, my crop survived wilting. However, just when the cob is developing, armyworms have attacked a majority of the cultivation. Each cob has five to six worms.
As a result, 80% of the crop has been damaged completely. This will affect yield severely." Mentioning the situation to be same in at least 10 other villages, she said, “The authorities concerned have not even inspected the crop damage in our village.” She also said that farmers did not benefit from the crop insurance scheme last year despite having enrolled.
Another farmer, V Karupasamy of Poyyathanallur, who also joined the group that submitted a petition at the Ariyalur collectorate said, "I cultivated maize on two acres by availing of bank loan. My cultivation, however, has been completely affected by armyworms.
The worms eat up all the leaves and cobs. We usually get a yield of 20 sacks per acre but now it is difficult to get a sack per acre." When contacted, senior agriculture officials in both the districts acknowledged that they have received several petitions over the issue from farmers. Crop damage enumeration is under way following which we will submit the report to the government and get compensation for the farmers, they told TNIE.