The Federation of Farmers Associations in Cauvery Delta Districts has called upon the Centre to revamp the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme to benefit individual farmers.
In a representation submitted at the monthly farmers grievances meeting on Friday, P. Arupathy Kalyanam, general secretary of the federation, demanded revamping of PMFBY with a modified incentive-linked scheme. He demanded the extension of the last date for paying premium for the samba season from November 15 to November 30.
To save farmers from distress, who have pinned their hopes on rain during the upcoming northeast monsoon, the Agriculture Department should implement a crisis management strategy and plan with micro-level intervention at each revenue village.
Salinity in water from deep borewells due to seawater intrusion has been causing damage to the crops. The State government should form a district-level joint consultative committees comprising officials from Agriculture, Revenue, and Water Resources; agriculture scientists from Tamil Nadu Agriculture University and farmers to suggest measures to address the issue, he said.
