Steps taken to provide compensation to farmers: Vaithilingam

Puducherry, Nov 15 (UNI) The Puducherry administration is taking steps to provide adequate compensation to the farmers of Mannadipet, Thirukkanur and Nettapakkam, who lost their crops in the tornado in May this year, Agriculture Minister V Vaithilingam said today.

Addressing a press conference here, he said issuing of compensation would begin on November 21 and completed within ten days. While Rs 6,000 would be provided for one hectare of plantain crops lost, Rs 4,000 would be given for a hectare of other crops and Rs 300 would be paid for each damaged coconut tree.

Nearly 2,060 farmers would be benefitted and the exchequer would incur an expenditure of Rs 39.16 lakh, he said and added Rs 1.04 crore would be disbursed as incentive (Rs 50 per quintal) to the farmers of Puducherry, who had supplied paddy to the Regulatory markets here for the last nine months.

Incentive would also be given to farmers who sold paddy directly to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the minister said the entire amount would be disbursed before December 31.

Stating that a subsidy of Rs 5,000 per hectare would be given to those who had undertaken water-saving crops here, Mr Vaithilingam said 1,475 hectars were utilised for cultivation of water-saving crops and Rs 73.75 lakh would be disbursed before Christmas.

In a bid to encourage precision farming, the administration intended to provide 100 per cent subsidy of Rs 2.25 lakh per hectare. A maximum of two acres could be brought under the precision farminig, he said adding the Agriculture Department would issue applications to the farmers from November 19, which should be filled up and returned before December 10, following which the beneficieries would be finalised.

The system would be implemented in any part of Puducherry before Pongal, he said adding from next year onwards, the subsidy would be scaled down to 90 per cent.

UNI