Tamil Nadu assembly elections 2021: Agri poll promises may not bear fruit

Both the Dravidian majors have been vying to woo the agrarian community this time by offering many assurances including increase of minimum support price (MSP), but many farmers in the Cauvery Delta Zone (CDZ) and neighbouring districts see it as yet another bait to net their votes.
The votes of farmers could be a deciding factor in 38 of the 41 constituencies in the central districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagappattinam, Trichy, Ariyalur, Cuddalore and Pudukottai.These districts comprise CDZ with a total geographic area of 14.47 lakh hectares. Besides these, some parts of Karur and Perambalur too have agricultural activity.
“All farmers expect fair price for their produce as recommended by M S Swaminathan. When the demand turns into reality, farmers will realize profit in the ailing agriculture industry. Unfortunately, there is no strong assurance from anyone on that aspect,” says the state spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Sangam (BKS) N Veerasekaran.
Though the ₹12,100 crore crop loan waiver announced by the AIADMK government may comfort more than 16 lakh farmers to an extent, the series of protests against the three farm laws at the national capital will have its repercussions in the elections, say farmers. “A majority of the farmers have some idea about the controversial farm laws and their angst will cast a shadow on loan waiver announcement,” says K V Elankeeran president, Federation of Cauvery Delta Farmers Associations.
AIADMK Srirangam candidate and former agriculture minister in the Jayalalithaa cabinet Ku Pa Krishnan is confident that crop loan waiver will reap dividends for the AIADMK. “Everyone has got the waiver certificate. Those who have got the certificate are free of the loans. The loan write-off has been welcomed by the agrarian community,” says he.
Stating that Mettur dam remains the lifeline of delta farmers, Cauvery Delta Farmers Association Trichy president Dikshidhar Balasubramanian says the DMK’s promise of doubling the Ayacut areas is not a priority. “Be it the AIADMK or the DMK, they should ensure that Tamil Nadu gets 177.2tmcft of water from Cauvery. They should also concentrate on removing encroachment on the water bodies to increase the storage capacity,” he says adding that Kudimaramathu scheme covered only 25% of the areas they planned to clear.
Though the AIADMK had declared CDZ an agriculture protected zone to stop further exploration of methane and hydrocarbon, traces of the projects are still present in the delta districts.
State general secretary of Indian farmers association G S Dhanapathy says they were unsure if the AIADMK will not bow to the BJP pressure to open the door to exploration if it retains power. “If the AIADMK is not in the BJP alliance, farmers may believe they will keep up their promise but the situation is different now,” he said.