KALPETTA: The farmers in Wayanad are facing multiple risks apart from the price crash and it is noticed that there are lots of indications of an impending agriculture crisis in the district, Additional Chief Secretary K Jayakumar, head of the high-level committee appointed by the government, has said. The report on the farming crisis will be submitted to the government on Tuesday, he added. Speaking to reporters here after a meeting of the representatives of farmers organisations, political party leaders and officials of district administration convened in the district collectorate, Jayakumar said, “we will analyse the credit situation in the district, especially the recovery proceedings on education and home loans”. The problem here is not only due to farming crisis.The fluctuations in the prices of agricultural products like ginger and banana exposed the farmers’ vulnerability, he added. An evaluation on the impact of the steps taken by the Agriculture Debt Relief Commission will be conducted and the possibilities of procuring crops at a fair price will be examined. The meeting also discussed the chances of implementing National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) in the agricultural sector also, he added.Replying to a query, he said they received a lot of inputs on the issues and should evaluate the impacts of study reports on various packages allotted to the district. A remark made by DCC president P V Balachandran that all the suicides happened in the district were not due to agricultural debts created ruckus in the meeting as some representatives of farmers’ organisations expressed their protest on the spot.District Collector K Gopalakrishna Bhat, Dr P Indira Devi of Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, and Dr P C Alex from Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Pookode, Wayanad, attended the meeting.
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