THANJAVUR: While the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department’s announcement last week of commencing the distribution of inputs under the kuruvai special package – which was announced on June 12 -- in a day or two provided a ray of hope for farmers, it remains a non-starter. Worried that any further delay would result in the farm inputs going to waste, farmers in the district seek its disbursement at the earliest. As part of the kuruvai package announced by Chief Minister MK Stalin after releasing water from Mettur dam on June 12 for aiding irrigation in delta districts, 45 kg of urea, 50 kg of DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate) and 25 kg of potash would be provided per acre at no cost.
The other components of the package with an outlay of Rs 75.95 crore include assistance for alternate and green manure crops, and agriculture machinery like power tillers and power weeders. For Thanjavur district, this translates to a supply of fertilisers for cultivation over 70,000 acres while 37,350 acres will be covered under the seed component. During the monthly farmers’ grievance redressal meeting at the Collectorate last week, officials announced that the distribution of kuruvai package would commence in a day or two. However, it is yet to be translated to action.
Meanwhile, official sources pointed out that only around 100 farmers in the district have so far registered for availing of the special package through the agriculture department’s Uzhavan app. "Many farmers don't have Android smartphones and even those having it are not well-versed in filling and uploading details," said S Vimalnathan, the secretary of Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers’ Protection Association.
Usually, farmers fill up a hard copy of an application and submit it to the concerned assistant agriculture officer, who in turn keys in the details in the app by getting the OTP sent to the farmer’s mobile, he added. The distribution of hard copies of the application, however, is yet to commence in several areas of the district.
"When I approached the officials, they said the applications would be available from Thursday (July 6)," said R Sukumaran, a farmer from Kakkarai. Mentioning there to have been no announcement on the distribution of applications, AKR Ravichander of Ammayagaram said, "Once we get it, we have to obtain chitta and adangal from the VAOs and attach them, which would take time." He further said that many farmers in nearby villages have already harvested early kuruvai paddy.
"If the issuance of inputs under the kuruvai package is delayed further it would not benefit farmers who took up kuruvai cultivation," he said. Even if we save the fertilisers for the next season of samba, the shelf life of some bags of fertilisers would have ended, making them unusable, he added. When contacted, agriculture department officials said they are ready to commence the distribution of the special package.