AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palanichamy has said that the Vidya DMK government should provide crop loan this year without any condition to the farmers who failed to pay the crop loan last year.
In a statement issued in this regard, he said, “Since the Vidya DMK government took over, it has secretly joined hands with the Karnataka Congress government and the central government, not insisting on getting our due share of water from the Cauvery, and is only betraying the delta farmers. Due to this, delta irrigated farmers are facing untold misery. Due to insufficient water release in Cauvery for the last two years, the farmers who cultivated Kurva suffered huge losses due to lack of sufficient water and paddy crops grown on tens of thousands of acres of land got burnt. Due to lack of crop insurance for Kurvai cultivation, farmers are unable to get adequate relief.
On the one hand, the crop got burnt due to lack of water during the samba drought, and on the other hand, it was affected by rain and flood. There were reports in the media and newspapers that thousands of bags of harvested paddy were soaked in rain and affected by sprouting due to non-opening of direct paddy procurement stations on time. The Vidya DMK government did not provide adequate relief to the farmers affected by the rain floods. In the current year 2024-2025, the farmers suffered a lot because they did not get enough water from the Cauvery from the ally Karnataka Congress government, water was not released to the farmers of the Delta district for the cultivation of rice, and three-phase electricity was not provided.
Due to the mercy of nature, the Cauvery catchment area has been receiving heavy rains for the past one week, and the Karnataka government has no choice but to release surplus water into the Cauvery. Due to this, Mettur dam is filling up very fast. Crossed 100 feet on 27.7.2024. Therefore, I urge you to release water for samba cultivation as soon as possible. It is known from the farmers that there is a shortage of short-term and long-term seed rice varieties required for samba cultivation. Therefore, I urge immediate supply of both types of seed paddy without shortage.
Also, I urge the Vidya DMK government to wake up from its kumbakarna slumber and provide the farmers with the necessary agricultural inputs including fertilizers and pesticides for samba irrigation. Last year, I had urged this government to waive the crop loan interest to farmers who could not repay their crop loans due to the failure of kurva cultivation. .
Delta farmers fear that farmers who failed to pay their crop loans last year will not be given crop loans for the current season. Therefore, I urge the Vidya DMK government to provide crop loan unconditionally to the farmers who failed to pay the crop loan last year for samba cultivation this year. Also, I urge the Vidya DMK government to take precautionary measures to repair and fix the canals, sluices and strengthen the banks so that the water that will be opened in the Cauvery reaches the ponds, puddles and outlets.
