Farmers Demand Prompt Release Of Their Crop Loan

A farmer in Madurai reported that even 22 days after water from the Vaigai dam was released to irrigate the double-crop area, farmers were still being denied crop loans by some cooperative societies.

This complaint was made by a farmer, A.N.M. Tirupathi, at the meeting on Friday to address farmers' complaints, which was presided over by Collector S. Aneesh Sekhar.

"We have already used up all of the cash on hand to pay back the crop loan while waiting for the issuance of a new loan. However, authorities from certain cooperative banks have since denied us a loan and urged us to wait until July "Mr. Tirupathi stated.

He claimed that the adangal certificate issued by the village administrative officer was not being accepted by the officials.

They told him that they couldn't provide a loan for the current pasali and that the next pasali wouldn't begin until July, so they requested him to wait.

Early in June, the farmers began planting, and now, he added, they needed money to buy fertiliser so they could begin transplantation.

Gurumoorthy, the Joint Registrar of Cooperatives, pledged to see to it that the loans were approved right away.

A farmer reported that commission agents, who had previously received a 10% fee for vegetables sold by farmers at the Usilampatti market, were now demanding additional money for an additional kilogram of vegetables.

Another farmer claimed that the traders in Melur market fixed prices for their produce based on an approximation of weight rather than actually weighing the vegetables during business transactions.

The Collector pledged to investigate the situation.