District Collector Anand Mohan addressing farmers’ grievance redress meeting at Tirunelveli Collectorate on Friday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
District Collector Anand Mohan, who recently exhorted agriculturists to insure their crops against possible loss from Super El-Nino effects, renewed his appeal in the farmers’ grievance redress meeting held at the Collectorate on Friday.He said the district had started experiencing the adverse effects of Super El-Nino with lesser rainfall since January 1. Only 21 of the 1,098 irrigation tanks — 727 systemised and 371 non-systemised tanks — had water sufficient for three months and the water available in 31 tanks could last for two months.Another 289 tanks had water sufficient for just 30 days due to poor rainfall. A total of 431 systemised tanks and 326 rain-fed tanks were bone dry. The five dams in the district, which had 8 tmc water in mid-July last year, now had only 4 tmc water, he said.Since an abnormal heat wave swept across the district, water-intensive crops like paddy and banana banana might face serious loss, he said.Mr. Anand Mohan said for the ‘kar’ season paddy, the insurance premium to be paid before July 31 was ₹745 per acre, and ₹ 2,362 per acre for banana, which should be paid before September 15. The farmers could contact toll-free number 14447 or the Assistant Directors of Agriculture for details.The Collector also appealed to the farmers to get the unique identity number by uploading the details required by the Department of Agriculture to avail themselves of the benefits and the welfare schemes being implemented by the State and the Central Governments.“So far, 47,067 farmers have obtained unique identity number in the district. The remaining 7,559 farmers should complete the process to get the number immediately,” he said.Most of the farmers said the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) had not disbursed money for the paddy procured from them for the past six months. “The NCCF has to disburse more than ₹30 crore to around 1,000 paddy farmers,” they fumed.The Collector said he was taking all-out efforts to ensure early disbursal of the money.The farmers also appealed to the Collector to construct a compound wall around the forest land near Gangaikondan SIPCOT Industrial Promotion Centre to save cultivable lands from deer and wild boar. “Since acquisition of land for SIPCOT Phase II has been taken up, the shrinking forest may divert the animals towards agricultural fields,” they said.The farmers also urged the Collector to take steps to dig a tunnel for taking Papansam dam’s surplus water to Manimuthar dam for reviving farming in Nanguneri, Radhapuram, Thisaiyanvilai and Eral in Thoothukudi district.District Revenue Officer Vidhya and Joint Director of Agriculture Poovannan were present. Published - July 17, 2026 08:25 pm IST
