Delta farmers demand fixing of reasonable rent for harvesters

Thiruchirapalli

The samba harvest has been widely undertaken for past 10 days across region and farmers have been depending on the harvester machines to support their works. Sensing the demand, private players have started collecting higher rent from place to place and person to person.

“It should be a customary that the district collector should convene a meeting of revenue officials, officials from agri department, private harvester owners, regional transport officers and the representatives from the farming community and discuss widely on fixing of the rent for the harvesters otherwise, the farmers would certainly be affected”, said the Cauvery Farmers Protection Association Thanjavur district secretary Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan.

“Since high demand for the harvesters, middle men in nexus with the local politicians are forced to fix a higher rent as owners have to spare a certain commission to local politicians as well as a few officials. Thus farmers are forced to pay higher amount as rent for harvester and it is time District Collector to intervene,” Vimalnathan said and urged each district administration to convene meeting immediately and come out with a fair rent amount.