Farmers’ grievance meet moves to Madurai outskirts

Madurai: Kottampatti farmers have appealed to Madurai district administration to help them replace aged coconut trees with new plants to improve yield. Speaking at the farmers’ grievance redresssal meeting held at the village panchayat on Friday evening, they said the coconut crop is cultivated on 77,000 acres in the region. However, more than 30,000 trees are very old and the yield has diminished. These trees have to be replaced for which subsidies and incentives are needed.As announced by collector M S Sangeetha, the meeting was held at Kottampatti, 50km from the city, so that the district administration can hear farmers from the fringes of the district. The panchayat union has 27 villages and is situated at the northern end of the district. Though farmers’ leaders from other parts of the district resented having to travel far to attend the grievance meeting, the meeting happened as planned. “We are very glad that the district collector came down to receive our petitions,” said N Arun, a farmer from Kottampatti. The collector said it was the government’s decision to hold the monthly meeting in different blocks. The farmers expressed their joy by presenting a display box with traditional rice varieties of each district of Tamil Nadu. Among various demands raised, the farmers appealed to the district administration to desilt water bodies in their region and facilitate a farmers’ market to sell vegetables and fruits of the region.