PONDA: Farmers in Priol, Bandora, Farmagudi, and other parts of the taluka are facing significant losses due to heavy rainfall which has damaged their monsoon vegetable crops.
The farmers, who are mostly landless, have requested the government to provide compensation without insisting on mandatory ownership documents.
The farmers said that they have already invested in labour, fertilizers, and water tankers for cultivation, which has gone in vain.
They said that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has declared a scheme to provide compensation to the traditional mollekars/farmers whose crops have been damaged. However they said that the application form provided by the Zonal Agriculture Office for compensation has made it mandatory to attach Form I and XIV which many of them do not possess as they are neither owner nor tenant.
Veling Priol Deputy Sarpanch, who inspected the damaged crops, said that the farmers want relaxation in this clause in the compensation application.
The farmers complained that the continuous downpour has destroyed vines of seasonal crops such as cucumber, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, brinjal, radish, and pumpkin, affecting their livelihood.
The farmers said they worked hard for two months, hired labourers and carried water through tankers and water pumps at Hills to irrigate the vegetables cultivated by them.
They further claimed that despite their hard work and efforts since April, the heavy rain in June and July has caused extensive damage to their crops.
The landless farmers said they don’t want any issues with landlords by mentioning survey numbers and are cultivating vegetables on the landlords’ property with his consent during monsoon season.
The farmers said the Agriculture Officer should visit the cultivation sites, inspect and provide them compensation for the loss they have suffered.
Some farmers said they suffered losses to the tune of Rs 40,000 to 50,000 spent on cultivation.