Rs 186 crore relief for maize ryots hit by Fall Armyworm

Palaniswami made the announcement under Section 110 of Tamil Nadu Assembly Rules in which he said, “The Armyworm has damaged maize crops cultivated in 2.20 lakh hectares planted in 17 districts affecting 2.93 lakh farmers. I announce the total compensation of Rs 186.25 crore for the damaged crops.”

Justifying the compensation announced, Chief Minister Palaniswami said that 80 per cent of maize cultivation is carried out by micro and small-scale farmers and among them 80 per cent is done under dry land cultivation. They are planted in 3.55 lakh hectares in various districts such as Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Salem, Namakkal, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Tiruchy, Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Theni.

He also said that under the changing climatic conditions, Armyworm damaged maize crops in America and in 2016 spread to African countries. From there it spread to India and now it is prevalent in all our neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The worm attacked maize crops in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana in 2018 and it spread to Tamil Nadu. “When the attack of Armyworm was brought to my notice, I ordered the officials to carry out immediate preventive action but despite taking action, 2.2 lakh hectares were damaged by the worm,” said Palaniswami.

He further said that compensation for maize under dryland cultivation would be Rs 7,410 per hectare and Rs 13,500 for maize cultivated under wetland cultivation. “I have also ordered the officials to continuously monitor the situation and to prevent further spread of Armyworm in the state,”said Palaniswami.