Farmer suicides: Rs 1 lakh solatium for families

KALPETTA: Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan has announced a solatium of Rs 1 lakh to the families of the farmers who had committed suicide following crop failure.He was talking to reporters after the meeting held in the Wayanad collectorate to discuss the agriculture crisis in the district. The minister said that a final decision regarding the declaration of moratorium for recovery measures in Wayanad district will be taken after the state level bankers committee meeting. “Measures for starting procurement of paddy from Wayanad and sanctioning benefits through Debt Relief Commission will be intensified. Besides, the subsidy amounts will be given to farmers through bank accounts,” he said.Mohanan also announced that steps would be taken to collect a comprehensive data of farmers of Wayanad in which details regarding farming and debts will be included. He informed that Wayanad package will be implemented within six months and said that a Rs 10-crore project would be initiated in Sultan Bathery for procuring vegetables. Besides, Kalpetta constituency will be included in the ‘Niravu’ project, which aims to integrate all projects in agriculture in 11 constituencies.