RAMANATHPURAM: District collector Vishnu Chandran promised to take steps towards constructing a complex for agriculture products, during a grievance meeting for coconut farmers in Ramanathapuram on Tuesday. The farmers said coconut is being farmed on 8,300 hectares of area in the district. Owing to poor rain spells, the yield has decreased in recent years.
"Since traders quote low prices for coconuts here, we have to sell the produce in the open market. The profit has further declined due to the surge in production and logistics costs. If there was a dedicated storage facility for coconuts, we would be able to sell them at a reasonable price," the farmers said.
They also sought the agriculture department to take appropriate measures to prevent insect attacks on coconut trees and to issue guidelines for the uniform distribution of pesticides. Drought relief was also sought for the farmers.
Responding to the demands, collector Vishnu Chandran said necessary steps will be taken to set up a commercial complex. "As much as 40% subsidy is provided by the agricultural engineering department to the farmers for setting up solar dryers. The farmers should also come forward to initiate processing of value-added products from coconuts," he added.
Later in the day, the collector interacted with sugarcane farmers and heard their grievances. Cane is being cultivated on about 2,500 acres in Paramakudi and Kamudi blocks in the district. The farmers said if sufficient credit facilities are provided directly to them through cooperative banks, more farmers will come forward to cultivate sugarcane. "Deer and wild boars cause us heavy loss during farming seasons. Hence, the district administration must take appropriate action to prevent it," they demanded.
In response, collector Vishnu Chandran said the Shakti Sugars Company will be instructed to provide loans upto `3 lakh directly to sugarcane farmers through central cooperative banks and cooperative banks to provide loans. "The company is also providing solar spike fences to farmers at subsidised rates to protect their farms from the intrusion of deer and wild boars," he added.