Crop Losses Mount In Beed; Farmers Plan Protest

Beed: Farmers in Beed district are facing severe crop losses due to inadequate rainfall. The soybean crop has been badly damaged, while the cotton crop is on the verge of being ruined. However, if the rains fail to arrive soon, cotton farmers are also likely to suffer heavy losses.

The government should take immediate measures to protect farmers’ crops and conduct experiments on artificial rain, said Rajendra Amte at a meeting organised by the Shetkari Hakka Morcha at Nalwandi in Beed tehsil on Friday.

Amte said that last year, the government had announced crop insurance assistance of ₹17,000 per hectare for farmers affected by heavy rains. Following the announcement, Guardian Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar had also met the Chief Minister and assured farmers that the issue of crop insurance would be resolved. However, the pending crop insurance payments have still not been released to farmers.

The government should immediately declare a drought, provide compensation of ₹1 lakh per hectare to farmers affected by crop failure and take steps to conduct artificial rain experiments to save standing crops, Amte said.

At the meeting held in Nalwandi, the Shetkari Hakka Morcha also decided to stage a protest in Beed, demanding the immediate disbursement of the remaining crop insurance payments owed to farmers.

A large number of farmers from nearby areas attended the meeting. Those present included Shetkari Hakka Morcha leader Rajendra Amte, former sarpanch Radhakisan Mhetre, Annasaheb Raut, Ganesh Raut, Babasaheb Kale, Kundlik Waghmare, Shankar Mhetre, Babasaheb Jadhav, Bhagwat Ledal, Dashrath Tambere, Sudam Satkar and Mohan Tambere.