A. Murugesan, a marginal farmer from Sambakulam in Mudukulathur block, the worst affected area in the district, had cultivated paddy in two acres and chilli in one acre after borrowing Rs. 50,000 from a local money lender and virtually at the crossroads after losing the two crops.
As there were problems in securing farm loan from the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Society (PACCS) after demonetisation, he had borrowed money on three paise interest to raise the paddy crops, spending Rs. 20,000 and the chilli spending Rs. 30,000 but lost both the crops due to the failure of north east monsoon.
He, like scores of other farmers in the block, took up the cultivation in August-September last year pinning hopes on the ‘five madai’ Public Works Department ‘kanmai’ (waterbody) in Sambakulam and ‘three madai’ Union kanmai in Udaikulam but both went dry this season.
The paddy crops were 60-days-old when the rains failed during the crucial terminal stage and he lost everything, he said. In a bid to make good the loss, he had cultivated chilli (Ramnad Mundu variety) and that too withered, he said sharing his tragic story with The Hindu at Udaikulam on Saturday.
Overnight he became a labourer and goes for wood cutting and other odd jobs to eke out a living. He managed with free rice distributed in the ration shop but payment of interest (about Rs. 1,500 per month) to the money lender was a huge burden for him. He also has to mobilise money for the studies of his son, a polytechnic student in a private college. “I swear in the name of Sun God that I feel like ending my life every day,” he says with tears welling up in his eyes.
K Viswanathan, a marginal farmer from Udaikulam also has a similar story to share. He had borrowed Rs. 90,000 from a money lender for paddy and chilli cultivation and to meet the educational expenses of his son. Both farmers complained about procedural difficulties in obtaining farm loans from PACCS.
They would be able to repay a portion of the loan if the government helped them with drought relief. They had insured the paddy crops but could not mobilise Rs. 1000 per acre to insure the chilli crops. Mobilising Rs. 3,000 to insure chilli crops raised in three acres turned out to be a huge task for the poor farmers. They wanted the district administration to come to their rescue by arranging credit facilities for paying premium through PACCS.
