A relief of Rs 20,000 per hectare would be provided to Cauvery delta farmers for loss of yield to the tune of 33 per cent or more for ready to harvest paddy crop affected by unseasonal heavy rainfall, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin announced in Chennai on Monday, February 6. Following a briefing by Agriculture Minister M R K Panneerselvam, Food Minister R Sakkarapani and top officials who inspected the rain-hit crops in Cauvery delta region, Stalin ordered a relief package for the affected farmers.
The Revenue and Agriculture departments would together assess the crop damage due to unseasonal heavy rainfall and for damaged crops under the category of pulses Rs 3,000 per hectare would be provided and for affected Urad farmers, 8 kilograms of pulses seed would be given at 50 per cent subsidy.
A relief of Rs 20,000 per hectare would be provided to Cauvery delta farmers for loss of yield to the tune of 33 per cent or more for ready to harvest paddy crop battered by rains in accordance with the disaster management rules.
In order to help farmers affected by rains to immediately take up harvest of paddy, harvest machinery would be made available for rent at 50 per cent subsidy through the Agricultural Engineering Department.
If crop assessment/examination has been completed for purposes under the crop insurance scheme, steps would be taken for additional evaluation now. Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu and top officials took part in the meeting to review the inspection report on affected crops.
On February 4, Chief Minister Stalin had said that appropriate action would be taken on providing relief to farmers of Cauvery delta region after looking into inputs from a panel of Ministers and officials that studied damage to crops due to unseasonal rains.
Delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Ariyalur and Pudukottai witnessed heavy rainfall during last week.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, Stalin apprised him of the situation and urged the union government to relax paddy procurement norms including stipulation on moisture content.
Tamil Nadu All Farmers Associations' Coordination had said on Friday that about five lakh acres of paddy crop, ready for harvest, was completely damaged due to unseasonal rainfall in Cauvery delta areas.
On January 29, a Low Pressure Area developed and the next day it intensified into a Well Marked Low Pressure Area and later became a depression over south Sri Lanka and then weakened into a well marked low pressure area over Cape Comorin. In view of the weather system, heavy rainfall was witnessed in delta areas and some other districts.