Edappadi Palaniswami Demands Rs. 25,000 per Acre Compensation for Scorched Kuruvai Paddy Crops

AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami issued a press statement urging the DMK coalition government to immediately compensate farmers in Tamil Nadu's delta districts whose Kuruvai paddy crops have been scorched due to water scarcity.

Palaniswami noted that every year, water is released from Mettur Dam on June 12 to support Kuruvai paddy cultivation. However, this year the DMK government failed to release Cauvery water for the Kuruvai season, leaving approximately 1.85 lakh acres of river-irrigated farmland in the delta districts without irrigation, preventing farmers from undertaking cultivation through the conventional method.

Some delta district farmers turned to wells and borewells as alternatives, spending around Rs. 25,000 per acre — including labour costs — to grow paddy. Despite these efforts, the lack of adequate water resulted in the scorching of Kuruvai paddy crops across nearly 1 lakh acres in delta districts, including Nannilam and Kudavasal in Thiruvarur district. The crop failure has left thousands of farmers without their livelihoods.

Demands

Palaniswami urged the state government to:

• Immediately deploy revenue and agriculture department officials to the affected delta districts to conduct field surveys of the scorched paddy lands.
• Provide Rs. 25,000 per acre as compensation to all affected farmers.
• Supply free, uninterrupted 24-hour three-phase electricity for agricultural use to help protect whatever crops remain.