Cyclone relief: No solace for TN farmers

Yet again, Tamil Nadu was struck by nature’s fury. Heavy rains accompanied by high velocity winds pounded the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu as cyclone ‘Gaja’ made landfall on November 16. The cyclone caused unprecedented destruction, the remnants of which can still be seen along swathes of land in the coastal districts of Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukottai. Standing crops like paddy, banana, sugarcane, coconut, mango, jack-fruit, etc., cultivated in these districts have been completely destroyed, severely damaging the livelihood of farmers.

The impact of Gaja, particularly on perennial crops such as coconut in the Cauvery Delta region, appears insurmountable. Many of the remote pockets in the affected areas continue to remain cut off with no power or drinking water, following the damage to several power substations, transformers and snapped electricity connections. Understanding the severity of the damage, the Tamil Nadu government has announced various relief measures for farmers, which include an immediately allocation of ₹1,000 crore. But, is this relief adequate?

Extent of damage

As per the Tamil Nadu government’s assessment, about 88,102 hectares are estimated to have been affected by the cyclone, with paddy and coconut crops accounting for 32,706 hectares and 30,100 hectares, respectively. These also include 7,636 hectares of maize, 4,747 hectares of banana, 4,000 hectares of coffee, pulses, cotton, cashews, jack fruits, 500 hectares of sugarcane, 945 hectares of maize and 2,707 hectares of vegetable crops. However, the assessment of the damage appears to be hugely underestimated. This is because many of the villages are inaccessible at presentas tilted or uprooted tress have blocked the approach roads.

For example, jack-fruit, vegetables and teak trees are cultivated in most parts of Pudukottai district, starting from Peravurani. It is not very clear whether these are included in this assessment. As per the recent data from the state department, four crops — paddy, coconut, sugarcane and banana — alone were cultivated in about 5,85,976 hectares in Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukottai. Therefore, the cropped area affected by the cyclone is likely to rise further.

Providing proper relief

Although there are issues in estimating the cropped area affected by cyclone, the relief announced by the State for loss of livestock and crops is grossly insufficient. For example, a total of ₹1,100 is announced as relief for one coconut tree — ₹600 to cut and ₹500 to remove it from the land. So, for one hectare of coconut, the one-time relief works out to ₹1,92,500. To re-cultivate the same, a relief of ₹72,100 will be provided to farmers. This relief seems far lower than the annual income realised from coconut cultivation. Farmers in areas such as Peravurani and Pattukottai say they earn ₹5-7 lakh per hectare through coconut cultivation. Even if 50 per cent of the income is accounted for as cost of production, the net profit would come to about ₹2.5 lakh/hectare.

According to the three-year average data ending 2015-16, issued by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), a coconut cultivator in Tamil Nadu is estimated to have earned a profit of ₹1,19,855 per hectare. Even if farmers begin to plant coconut immediately, they will be able to get the same amount of income only after 7-10 years. If one goes by this, the relief to be paid for the coconut farmers should be in the range of ₹10-20 lakh. Therefore, the relief should be worked out based on the long-term loss to be incurred by farmers.

Like coconut, other crops such as sugarcane, banana, paddy, vegetables and flowering plants also bore the brunt of the storm. The government announced a relief of ₹13,500/hectare for these crops as well. But this relief, again, will not even cover 50 per cent of the cost of cultivation of these crops.

CACP data show that farmers in Tamil Nadu have incurred ₹55,570/hectare for cultivating paddy, ₹56,572 for maize and ₹1,27,692 for sugarcane.

Another cash crop heavily damaged by the cyclone is banana, which on an average requires ₹75,000/hectare to cultivate. Paddy farmers will most likely be able to recover at least 50 per cent of their cost of cultivation from the crop, but banana farmers will not able to get anything as the extent of damage to the crop has been massive. Given this, compensation for these crops should be announced by taking into account the actual cost incurred by farmers.

What should be done?

Given the severity of the cyclone, it is obvious that the extent of the damage cannot be assessed in a short time. The fear of a lifetime loss looms large among the coconut farmers. According to the estimate of the Coconut Producers Company, about 75 lakh trees, many over 20 years old, were completely damaged and the crop loss could be about ₹3,000 crore.

In Pudukottai district, which is known for its jack-fruit cultivation, farmers have suffered a major loss. A grown jack tree is expected to generate an income of ₹5,000-10,000 per year. Therefore, the compensation has to be worked out based on the nature of crops.

Sugarcane farmers, who were expecting handsome profit during the forthcoming harvest festival of Pongal , are also left in the lurch, counting their losses.

In such a case, under-reporting and misreporting the total area of crops affected by the storm will only add to woes of the devastated farmers. Considering the unprecedented damage caused by the cyclone, a special committee, consisting of members having thorough knowledge on the cost and income pattern of different crops, needs to be appointed to properly assess the crop losses and provide reasonable relief.

Immediate steps also need to taken to restore power supply and damaged water bodies in the affected districts on a war footing so that the farmers can restart crop cultivation.

Coconut saplings, seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, drip irrigation, tractors and other agricultural machinery should be provided at a subsidised rate at least for the next three years. The compensation for those who lost sheep, goats and cows should be provided based on the current market value. Since most of the farmers have lost their crops and property, the government may consider bearing fully the education costs of the children of the rural households for the next three years.

Gaja has entirely devastated the livelihoods of farmers in the four coastal districts. When the delta farmers have fed us all these years, isn’t it our duty to compensate them in their time of distress?

The writers are Member (Official), Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, and Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology, respectively. The views are personal.

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