Hundreds of farmers from the upland areas of Kozhikode and Malappuram districts marched to the Kozhikode Collectorate on Wednesday highlighting their grievances, including low crop prices and crop loss caused by wild animals.
The agitation, organised by a joint action council of farmers, was followed by a public meeting, opened by Bishop of Kozhikode Diocese Varghese Chakkalakkal in the presence of Bishop of Thamarassery Diocese Mar Remigios Inchananiyil. Through the protest held ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the farmers want major political parties to take note of their grievances and include them in their election manifestos.
Baby Perumalil, a farmer, said after the August 2018 floods, the farmers in the State were struggling to make both ends meet due to severe crop loss and decline in prices of agricultural produce. Several farmers had committed suicide due to debt. Wild animal menace was also making life difficult for farmers in the hilly regions.
Land rights
The farmers also said they were being harassed by forest officials even if they had valid documents to prove the ownership of their land. “We are being considered encroachers even though our documents have been validated long ago. They refuse to accept tax for our land,” said Mr. Perumalil.
The farmers demanded that the Forest Department drop its plans to confiscate land for which they had documents validated before 1977.
Financial aid
They demanded immediate financial aid for those who had lost houses, agricultural land and crops and to implement support price for crops to tide over the losses due to a decline in prices. They also demanded ₹10,000-aid for families that depended on agriculture for their livelihood. Among the other demands raised by the farmers are a solution to the wild animal menace, waiver of agricultural loans, solution to the fall in rubber prices, reservation for children of farmers in the agricultural varsity and proper pension schemes.