Agricultural Minister P. Prasad and Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine will visit the drought-hit cardamom plantations in Idukki on Thursday.
The team will visit the cardamom farms at Vellaramkunnu under Kumily panchayat at 9 a.m. The ministerial team will also visit the most affected regions in the district.
After the visit, a meeting will be held at Kattappana around 2 p.m. People’s representatives, farmers, and officials of the Agriculture department will attend the meeting.
As per a department report, drought has taken a toll on the farm sector in the district. Crops in 17,481.52 ha has been destroyed, affecting 30,183 farmers and causing a loss of ₹175.54 crore. The drought affected 16,220.6 ha of cardamom plantation, affecting 22,311 farmers. The loss has been estimated at ₹113.54 crore.
However, department sources said the actual loss in the agriculture sector could only be estimated after the government declared the district as drought-hit.
“The number of affected cardamom farmers is high and the data need to be collected through each farm office,” the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Idukki diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church demanded that the government announce a special package for the drought-affected farmers in the district.
Idukki Diocese Media Commission Chairman Fr. Jins Karakkatt said thousands of farmers in the district were in distress. “The major crops in the district are cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, and coffee. The dairy sector is also affected by the drought and milk production has come down,” Fr. Karakkatt said.
“Without any government special package or projects, farmers cannot overcome the crisis,” he said.
