Farmers to get Rs 2,000 crore for samba crop loss: Tamil Nadu minister

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu agriculture minister M R K Panneerselvam said in the assembly on Thursday that insurance companies were expected to pay ₹2,000 crore compensation to farmers for the crop loss during samba cultivation last year.
Farmers were hit by a series of natural calamities like cyclonic storms Nivar and Burevi in November last year and unseasonal rains in January this year. Sources in the government said the relief would benefit 12.4 lakh farmers, who had taken crop insurance.
Participating in the budget debate, Panneerselvam said a compensation of ₹107.5 crore was paid towards Kuruvai crop loss last year under the insurance scheme, benefitting 1.64 lakh farmers. Farmers from Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam districts would receive compensation in 10 days, he said. Out of the ₹2,500 crore premium for samba insurance last year, the state government had paid its share of ₹ 1,550 crore, said the minister. The Centre was yet to pay its share, he added. The compensation to farmers would be released as soon as the Centre pays premium, the minister said. The state had already released ₹1,100 crore towards compensation to the farmers under the state disaster relief fund, he said.
Since the outstanding dues from private mills to sugarcane farmers was hovering around ₹1,200 crore, the minister said the government would hold tripartite talks to resolve the issues. The chief minister on Thursday sanctioned ₹182 crore to 12 co-operative and public-sector sugar mills for the crushing season 2020-21, he said.
The government’s ambitious programme, ‘Kalaignarin Anaithu Grama Orunginaintha Velaan Valarchi Thittam’ to be implemented in 12,500 village panchayats in a span of five years would ensure overall development in agriculture and self-sufficiency since it would involve various government departments. The state would allot ₹250 crore in the first year, Panneerselvam said. The government had also envisaged various schemes in agriculture to support three lakh youth at a cost of ₹340 crore, he said.