The Coordination Committee of All Farmers Associations of Tamil Nadu has exhorted the Tamil Nadu government to get the State’s quota of water released in the Cauvery river by Karnataka.

Addressing the media at Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district, Coordination Committee president P.R. Pandian pointed out that last season kuruvai cultivation was taken up on about 6.50 lakh acres in the delta districts. With a storage of around 80 feet in Mettur, the Tamil Nadu government should take steps to get the State’s share of water in Cauvery on a war footing.

While urging the State government to ensure the supply of quality seeds for sowing during the forthcoming kuruvai season in delta districts, Mr. Pandian regretted that the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) has entered into an agreement with the National Consumer Cooperative Federation (NCCF) for procurement of paddy from farmers in Tirunelveli, Ranipettai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and other districts, where harvesting had been completed, through NCCF’s Tamil Nadu Paddy and Rice Processing Federation (TNPRPF).

Pointing out that such a purchase arrangement put in place during the previous DMK regime resulted in delay of disbursement of sales proceeds, Mr. Pandian said a similar situation had cropped up now and the government should ensure early release of sales proceeds to the farmers who have measured their paddy under this arrangement.

Farmers in these district would be relieved if the government cancelled the procurement agreement between the TNCSC and the NCCF, he added.

Expressing the association’s dissent over the current increase in fuel prices, Mr. Pandian called upon the governments to ensure the availability of fertilizers in adequate quantity and check the retailers’ practice of forcing farmers to purchase other inputs along with fertilizers.