After two years of uncertainty, 64-year-old P.K. Sadhanandan, a progressive paddy farmer under the Kattoor Thekkumpadam Koottu Krishi Sangam in Thrissur, is now a relived ryot ahead of the harvest of this year’s crop, thanks to the general elections scheduled for April 26 in Kerala. A small-scale farmer who cultivates paddy on three acres is now credited a tranche of ₹40,000 twice in two back-to-back instalments in the last two months by the Agriculture Insurance Company, which provides insurance protection to the farmers against adverse weather conditions under the Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS).
His entire crop, nearing harvest in the 2021 Rabi season, was fully submerged in floodwater after a severe cyclonic storm, Asani, that took shape in the North Indian Ocean, triggered unseasonal torrential rain in Kerala during the first of May 2022, inflicting heavy losses to thousands of farmers readying for their harvest.
‘Beyond our means’
“Next year (2022 Rabi season), I could reap the harvest, although the above normal temperature during the 2023 summer season reduced their yield considerably. These two years, the loss was beyond our means, especially during the 2021 Rabi season,” says Mr. Sadhanandan.
Even in the 2023 Rabi season, the harvest of which is expected to take place in March, April, and May months, the prospects for paddy farmers are somewhat bleak, with the searing summer unleashing a host of challenges for the farmers, including increased pest attack.
Major relief
However, the insurance amounts credited to their account in 2024 for the last two seasons have come as a major relief for them, as a good number of farmers had already given up their hope following the undue delay in processing the insured amount.
K.K. Kochu Mohammed, who heads the Thrissur Kole Karshaka Sangom, a collective of farmer groups, says not only the insurance coverage for the farmers but also the price fixed for paddy procurement is being disbursed by the government this year promptly, soon after the harvest.
Last year, the delay in paying the price of paddy in Kerala even grabbed national headlines, with the State and Centre accusing each other in the wake of the precarious financial situation of the Kerala government.
According to the Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC), the company had distributed around ₹80 crore to 71,672 farmers in Kerala during the 2021 season, while the amount came to around ₹ 170 crore for about 1.10 lakh farmers during the 2022–2023 season.
The disbursal of the insurance amount for the last season is in the final stage, which will be completed shortly, adds AIC officials.
The ryots who were hit by the vagaries of climate and the poor financial situation of the State over the years are now hoping against hope that if there was an election every year, they would have been insulated from the negligence of governments.
