Alleging that 82.5 per cent of farmers in Tamil Nadu are burdened with heavy debt, PMK chief S Ramadoss today blamed the State's farm policy and urged steps to reduce their liabilities and make agriculture profitable.
Citing recent data from National Sample Survey Office under the Union Ministry of Statistics, he said 82.5 per cent of Tamil Nadu's farmers faced "insurmountable debt burden."
After Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which have 92.90 per cent and 89.10 per cent of debt ridden farmers respectively, Tamil Nadu had the highest number of farmers owing debts.
Each farming family in Tamil Nadu had an average debt of Rs 1,15,900, the PMK leader said.
"The reason behind this is the flawed agriculture policy being followed by the government of Tamil Nadu," he alleged.
While the monthly income of a farming family in Tamil Nadu was Rs 2,474, in Punjab it was Rs 16,349, he pointed out.
With an income of just Rs 2,474, it was impossible to tackle debt which was 47 times more than the monthly income, he said.
In Punjab, cane procurement price was Rs 3,000 per ton and in Tamil Nadu, it was Rs 2,650 and sugarcane mills did not even disburse this and had been only giving Rs 2,250, he said.
"Tamil Nadu government did not take steps to get the farmers the fixed prices from such mills."
The State "did not have any arrangement" to ensure hassle free supply of quality seeds and farm inputs to ryots, he claimed while analysing the reasons for farmers' debts.
"Tamil Nadu government must take steps to make farming profitable and reduce the debt burden of farmers," he appealed.
