Maharashtra: ‘Compensate ryots under crop insurance scheme and NCA’

YAVATMAL: Farmers in Yavatmal district should be given compensation under the crop insurance scheme and Natural Calamity Act, demanded Parivartan Vikas Aghadi (PVA) and Shetkari Sanghatana office bearers at a press conference here on Wednesday.
A delegation under the leadership of former MoS Sanjay Deshmukh of PVA and Nitin Deshmukh and Vijay Naval of Shetkari Sanghata submitted a memorandum of demands to the district collector Ajay Gulhane.
The major demands are compensation to cotton and soyabean cultivators affected by the untimely rain, installation of moister meter at all the APMCs, certificates to cultivators of cotton and soyabean and procurement of cotton as per the declaration of the state government last year.
Deshmukh showed soybean seeds germinated due to the rain and the damaged cotton balls. He narrated woes of the farmers and wanted to know how an illiterate and poor farmer can apply online for getting government assistance.
He demanded a survey by revenue officials to know the damage and fix the compensation accordingly.
Nitin Deshmukh, the District President of Shetkari Sanghata drew the attention towards the loss incurred by one Jayesh Uttamrao Khodwe of village Navapur in Ner tehsil whose 35 quintals of soyabean was washed away by heavy rain from the Darwha APMC yard.
Naval explained the market price of the cotton and soyabean which is even less than the MSP. He asked for purchase of cotton by the CCI through its nodal agency of Cotton Federation.
“If it is not done, the ongoing farmers’ suicide in the district will escalate and nobody can stall it,” he warned.
During the kharif sowing season, 4,76,916 hectares of cotton was cultivated in the district.
Similarly, 2,67,345 hectares was under soyabean cultivation, Nival said, adding that the agriculture department confirmed that 32,948 hectares of cotton and 68007 hectares of soyabean have been damaged due to the rains on October 26 and 27.
Tata Trust conducted a survey in two tehsils — Ghatanji and Yavatmal — and found 1350 families in despair which may lead to suicide. Similarly, another survey conducted by a Satara based NGO ‘ Society for Empowerment of villages and Agriculture’ found that 2750 families in five tehsils — Ghatanji, Ralegaon, Kalamb, Umarkhed and Pusad in Yavatmal are under duress and there is every possibility of farmers committing suicide.