Cotton growers get a bluster duo

Cotton growers hit hard in Tiruchi and Perambalur districts due to poor rain and higher incidence of disease damaging the crops. A new disease had hit cotton crops in the region and Bt cotton growers had suffered severe loss due to the disease. They have not witnessed such disease in the past and the State government should conduct an exclusive study on Bt cotton and evolve remedial measure, said S. Raja Chidambaram, State secretary, Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam.

Cotton is raised in a cluster of villages bordering Tiruchi and Perambalur districts. Just as the uneven rainfall experienced by the villages bordering Perambalur, the damage suffered too varied from village to village or even from field to field within a firka

The worst affected are the cotton growers in and around Pullampadi. Karunanidhi, councillor, who raised the issue at the district panchayat council meeting held here recently, said that the cotton growers had lost the crop for the second consecutive season. Although the State government had sanctioned some relief for the loss suffered in 2012, the insurance companies had not disbursed any indemnity for that period (2012).

A farmer of Thaapaai village bordering Tiruchi and Pullampadi, R.Dharmaraj (32) said that he had invested Rs.15,000 to raise cotton on his one-and-a-half acres and had anticipated a return of Rs.50,000, but could realise only half the amount of it.

For the current season, adequate relief is required from the State government and indemnity from the insurance companies. About 30,000 acres had been damaged in and around Pullampadi.