AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami urged Tamil Nadu government to provide a minimum compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre to the sugarcane farmers across the state affected by various issues including the outbreak of fungal diseases in the standing crop. He said that the sugarcane is also attacked by wild boars apart from the outbreak of Pokkaboing, root grub and other fungal diseases.
In a statement, Palaniswami said that even the home district of state Agriculture Minister M R K Panneerselvam Villupuram was not an exception.
"Sugarcane was raised on about 25,000 acres but was affected by Pokkaboing, root grub, and other fungal diseases. About 8,000 acres of sugarcane have been completely affected," Palaniswami said, as per PTI.
The situation, he said, has affected farmers who availed of bank loans since they will not be able to repay the loans due to the losses.
The majority of sugarcane is grown in the districts of Cuddalore, Villupuram, and Kallakurichi in north Tamil Nadu. However, the sugar mills in these districts have not offered remunerative prices for the cane purchased, thus the farmers' cup of misery is overflowing. According to the former chief minister, farmers are switching to the production of paddy, maize and other crops as cane farming has become less advantageous.
The farmers in the Cuddalore district are upset that no steps have been taken to give them pesticides to manage the illness or even to start making efforts to stop wild boar attacks. He said, they are concerned that the illness would spread to other crops and decimate them as well.
Therefore, he requested that the Agriculture Minister and department officials quickly inspect the disease-affected fields and evaluate the state of the standing crop. He also demanded that the insurance companies that have refused to reimburse growers for crop losses should be ordered to do so.