Farmers eager for budget consultation meet in Delta

TIRUCHY: Though dejected after the consultative meeting held in Dindigul with Agriculture Minister, farmers from the Delta region have been waiting for one such meeting prior to the budget presentation to put forth their long-term demands possibly to be enlisted in the budget that would give a hope for the upcoming cultivation process.

Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam conducted a budget consultative meeting at Dindigul in the month of January for the farmers of Dindigul, Tiruchy, Theni, Karur and Tirupur and meeting for the farmers belonging to the districts like, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Mayiulduthurai, Nagapattinam and Pudukkottai which are considered to be the major paddy producers.

Delta region cultivates kuruvai in an area around 4.20 lakh acres while the samba and thalady are cultivated in an area of around15 lakh acres ensuring the target of 58 lakh MT paddy procurement. “So, this region cannot be skipped at any cost in terms of the Agri budget consultative meeting. When we put forth the demands one to one, we get a sort of satisfaction that the requests were heard and so we expect the meeting might me organised in the Delta region after the Erode bypolls as the leaders seem to busy,” said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.

Vimalnathan put forth a series of long pending demands of the farmers and wished they would be considered in the upcoming Agri Budget 2023-24. “Tamil Nadu government has set an example of presenting an exclusive agri budget for the whole of the nation and we expect a farmer friendly budget,” he said.

The Delta farmers expect the extension of free power supply to the eligible farmers. A total of 4.53 lakh farmers applied for the free power supply and were waiting for several years and after the DMK formed government, it made possible for 1.50 lakh free supply within 18 months of formation of government and 3.05 lakh are still waiting and hope the government will consider this in the upcoming budget, he said.

Similarly, the state government should announce a Chief Minister’s Uzhavar Assistance fund of Rs 10,000 per acre to the farmers on par with the governments of Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and West Bengal.

The farmers also demanded to construct check dams between Grand Anicut (Kallanai) to Lower anicut (Anaikarai). They said that there is no barrage to store water. “The stretch between Kallanai and Anaikarai is 140 km long and there is no proper storage in this stretch and ultimately, the water would flow into the sea. During the previous flood 313.13 TMC water mixed into sea. If there is a proper storage mechanism, we could have stored this quantity of water and used it for irrigation,” said Aiylai Siva Sooriyan, secretary Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam.

Meanwhile, Siva Sooriyan said that the agri budget should have a proper funding allocation to prevent the wild animals prowling into the agriculture lands and destroying the crops. “The farmers should be allowed to erect electric fencing with 100 per cent subsidy so that they can save their crops from the wild animal attacks,” he added.

P Ayyakannu, state president of Desiya Thennindiya Nadhigal Inaippu Sangam said, “Our major demand is to get a profitable price and a MSP of Rs 2,500 per quintal of paddy and Rs 4,000 per tonne of sugarcane which was announced in the DMK election manifesto and the crop loan waiver. We hope this will be announced in the upcoming agri budget.”