The Department of Agriculture has initiated steps to ensure early disbursal of crop loss compensation and get insurance benefits as farmers have suffered extensive loss of crops due to the recent rain, Director of Agriculture V. Dakshinamoorthy has said. Besides causing extensive damage to the district’s infrastructure, the recent rain, particularly, the unexpected and unseasonal showers that lashed the coastal district continuously for four days just before ‘Pongal’ dashed farmers’ hopes by destroying crops, mostly rain-fed crops including maize, corn, pearl millet, green gram, black gram and chilli, all cultivated on over 1.70 lakh acres in the northern part of the district, particularly in Kayathar, Kovilpatti, Ettaiyapuram, Vilaathikulam and Pudhur taluks. Similarly, the Tamirabharani following heavy downpour in the catchment areas of Manimuthar and Papanasam Dams inundated the paddy cultivated on a few thousands of acres along the watercourse leaving the farmers in tears. When the affected farmers submitted petitions to Collector K. Senthil Raj on last Monday, he admitted that the aggrieved agriculturists would be bailed out once the ongoing crop damage survey by the Departments of Revenue and Agriculture was completed. Against this backdrop, Mr. Dakshinamoorthy, who came to the district on Thursday to expedite this process, discussed the quantum of crop loss in the district with Additional Collector Vishnu Chandran and senior officials of Departments of Revenue and Agriculture. He said the district, in the wake of the downpour, had lost crops cultivated on 1,64,274.12 acre - minor millets on 69,426.23 acre, green gram and black gram on 76,448.16 acre, paddy on 3,079.94 acre.

He also visited some of the affected fields where the crops had suffered extensive damage and said the survey on crop loss would be completed and forwarded to the government.

“We are keen on distributing the compensation to every farmer who has lost his crop. No affected farmer should be left out in this exercise, the officials have been told. Farmers, in case of crop loss, should give relevant details including their names, area of cultivation, crop variety, Aadhaar number, bank account number to the officials for getting the compensation. Moreover, process on getting insurance benefits for the crop loss has been started simultaneously,” he said. Source - https://www.thehindu.com