Farmers disappointed, flag unmet promises

Trichy: Farmers' associations in the Cauvery delta region expressed deep disappointment with the state's interim Agriculture Budget presented on Tuesday, terming it a rehash of existing schemes with no fresh relief measures. They particularly highlighted the absence of announcements on crop loan waivers, higher crop incentives and procurement price revisions.‘Swamimalai' Vimalanathan, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Welfare Association (Thanjavur), criticised the budget for failing to announce a waiver of crop loans or an increase in milk procurement prices. "We were expecting the paddy procurement price to be fixed at Rs 3,100 per quintal, on par with a few other states, but there was no such announcement," he said.
Farmers also pointed to unfulfilled election manifesto promises, including the assurance of Rs 4,000 per tonne for sugarcane. They flagged the absence of measures to install additional paddy drying machines at procurement centres and to provide new agricultural power connections to farmers who have been waiting for years. The associations demanded special insurance coverage for farmers, infrastructure to store excess rainwater, and higher allocations for constructing check dams and desilting canals, channels and reservoirs. They further called for improvements in paddy procurement and storage infrastructure. P R Pandian, convenor of the Tamil Nadu All Farmers' Associations Coordination Committee, described the budget as a repetition of schemes implemented over the past five years under a new interim plan. He also criticised the government for not announcing waiver of cooperative and education loans, saying the absence of any decision on crop loan waivers had left farmers disappointed. At the same time, farmers welcomed the allocation of Rs 3,002 crore towards interest subvention for loans taken from cooperative societies. ‘Cauvery' V. Dhanabalan, leader of the Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association (Nagapattinam), said the benefit should be extended to loans from nationalised banks to cover a larger section of farmers. The associations also demanded that the allocation for the Mini Dairy Scheme, which provides interest subvention to members of milk producers' cooperative societies, be doubled from Rs 150 crore to Rs 300 crore, stating that higher funding is needed to boost milk production and curb adulteration.