Palakkad, Alappuzha and Thrissur districts account for more than 70% of the 83,278 applications received so far for the ₹2,000 per hectare a year paddy land royalty under a new scheme being inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday.
The three districts account also about 75% of the paddy area currently being considered for the royalty payment, show figures available from the Department of Agriculture.
A senior official of the Department says ₹24.69 lakh will be paid to 3,909 farmers as royalty on the inaugural day, which will be observed as royalty day across all Krishi Bhavans in the State.
A total of 32,780 farmers have applied under the royalty scheme from Palakkad district. Their numbers are 16,833 and 10,401 from Alappuzha and Thrissur districts respectively. Nearly 16,000 hectares in Palakkad, 10,969 hectares in Alappuzha and 4,274 hectares from Thrissur are now being considered for the royalty payment.
The Department claims that it is the first time such a scheme is being introduced in any State in the country and it is meant to encourage farmers to bring more area under cultivation and to prevent acreage now under cropping from lying fallow.
Farmers engaged in paddy cultivation currently and those who cultivate short-term crops as part of rotation of crops are also eligible to be considered under the scheme.
Farmers, whose fields are idle now and want to bring them under cultivation on their own or any agency can also apply for being considered for the royalty payment but if the fields lie idle for the three years they will not be eligible for the royalty payment.
Idukki districts has seen the lowest number of applications at 245 for about 77 hectares. Kollam has generated 729 applications for 154 hectares.
