more-in Farmers in Erode urged the district administration on Friday to prevail upon the State Government to emulate Andhra Pradesh in procuring turmeric, to arrest falling prices. The farmers lamented that after all the measures they had taken including purchase of water at hefty costs for salvaging the turmeric crop, they had now peen pushed into the predicament of selling their produce for ? 7000 that was ? 2000 lesser compared to last year. The Markfed in Andhra Pradesh has stepped in to procure fine quality turmeric at ? 6,500 per quintal and secondary grades for ? 6,000. The AP Government has procured 6.5 lakh quintals of turmeric for ? 200 crore after the price dropped to ? 4,500 from ? 8,000 per tonne. Tamil Nadu Government must follow suit so that farmers would get at least ? 8,000 per quintal. The turmeric quality in Tamil Nadu was much better, said S.Nallasamy, farmer leader, during the monthly grievances redress meeting chaired by District Collector S.Prabakar. Reiterating the demand for government procurement of turmeric, Periyasamy, president of the district unit of Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, said the ? 2,000 price drop per quintal had happened due to unfair practices indulged in by a section of traders who had purchased the commodity from Andhra Pradesh and mixed it up with the local produce to make high margins. Logusamy said steps must be taken in right earnest to get the benefits of the schemes under implementation by Coconut Development Board. The scope for securing ? 1,000 for replanting and raising coconut saplings in the place of dried trees must be explored, he emphasised. Senniappan questioned the delay on the part of Aavin to settle dues to societies in the wake of prices in the global and domestic markets strengthening for skimmed milk powder. The amount taken by Aavin from deposits of the societies must be returned with interest, he said. There was a collective plea by farmers that all possible steps must be taken to engage the unemployed rural workforce for deepening water bodies. There were also suggestions that permission for higher horsepower motors must be considered by the Tangedco since farmers were now in a compulsive situation of digging borewells well to depths close to 1,000 m.

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