THOOTHUKUDI: Many farmers in the district, especially those cultivating maize, have appealed to the union government to either extend the deadline for insuring crops or withdraw the mandate on obtaining the farmer registration number, citing impediments in getting the latter.
Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare had made the registration number mandatory to avail of crop insurance and other benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) schemes. On Tuesday (November 25), the same mandate was enforced on the PMFBY portal for insuring crops.
For the 2025-2026 fiscal, the deadlines for insuring green gram and black gram were set on November 15, and for maize and cotton on November 30. Karisalboomi Farmers Association president A Varadharajan said that recent enforcement of the mandate has a lot of maize farmers worried, as they are yet to obtain the registration number. He said that maize is cultivated on an average of 1.5 lakh acres across the district annually, and that farmers need insurance as heavy rainfall and inclement weather conditions often affect the yield.
Several farmers told TNIE that they had faced challenges in obtaining the registration number, since land documents, such as patta, were in the name of their ancestors. Pattas need to be transferred, which is a tedious process, they said.
Meanwhile, those farming on leased-out land parcels are in dire straits, as the web portal has no provision for lessees to obtain the registration number. A farmer said, "The union government must consider the revenue-related difficulties in obtaining the farmers' registration number."
A senior agriculture officer told TNIE that the registration number could be obtained from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi portal by submitting land patta, Aadhaar details and the phone number linked to the Aadhaar. "We publicised the importance and necessity of the farmers registration number, which is essential to receive subsidies, fertilisers, seeds, loans, machinery, welfare assistance and other benefits related to farmers," he said.
The issue has been brought to the notice of top officials, since many farmers were unable to insure their crops. Another agriculture official told TNIE that maize is being cultivated in nearly 70,000 hectares in the district, and 60,000 hectares of which have already been insured. The cultivation of maize has increased this year compared to the last fiscal, the official added.
