Chennai, May 29 (BPNS)
Tamil Manila Congress (Moopanar ) president and former Union Minister, G.K. Vasan demanded the Tamil Nadu government to facilitate farmers by providing them loan assistance, crop insurance and a special package of fertilisers and seeds at subsidised rates for cultivating paddy during the Kuruvai season.
In a statement on Wednesday ,he also asked the state government to provide power supply for three shifts a day to irrigate crops.
G.K. Vasan said that generally every year the government opens the Mettur dam on June 12 -which is the customary date for irrigating the short term Kuruvai paddy crop in Cauvery delta districts of the state.
However the possibility of opening the dam on the customary date is unlikely due to the shortage of water in the reservoir and this would lead to reduced cultivation of Kuruvai paddy cultivation in the delta regions of the state.
The TMC leader said that farmers in many areas of the delta districts of the state have started cultivation expecting to use ground water and water from water bodies like lakes and ponds for irrigating the paddy crop using motor pumps.
He called upon the state government to ensure uninterrupted power supply for at least 18 hours a day and extend the loans for farmers through agriculture cooperative societies.
The former Union Minister also demanded the Tamil Nadu Agriculture Department to start disbursing special package for Kuruvai season to farmers without any delay.
