Aragalur

`Increase import duty on starch'

The Hindu
Sunday, Jun 20, 2004
`Increase import duty on starch'

By Our Special Correspondent

SALEM, JUNE 19 . Issues such as inadequate rainfall, improper distribution of drought relief for crop loss, demand for new check dams and plea to impose heavier import duty on starch from Thailand to save tapioca farmers were discussed threadbare in the farmers' grievances day meeting here on Friday.

The farmers said that though the rain was good elsewhere in the State, the district had not received adequate rain so far. The administration should prepare contingency plans to tide over the drought situation if there was any, they pointed out. President of the United Agricultural Association, Tamil Nadu, C. Vaiyapuri, claimed that the import of starch from Thailand had nearly nullified the sago industries in Salem district.

He asked the Collector, A. Sukumaran, who presided over the meeting, to take up the matter with the Government. He and other farmers further claimed that low import duty on starch from Thailand had flooded the Indian market, and demanded that the Union Government increase import duty to save the sago industry. They also expressed their anguish over the failure of industry people to honour the decisions taken at the recent tripartite meeting on tapioca procurement.

Mr. Vaiyapuri also said that farmers' markets (uzhavar santhai) were established to eliminate middlemen and to encourage a direct sale between the growers and consumers, but they had now had fallen into the hands of vendors and middlemen, defeating the very purpose of its establishment.

Private vendors took possession of these markets and had started dictating terms to consumers. For the welfare of the people, the functioning of these markets should be restored to its original system.

He also alleged that illegal miners quarried sand from the riverbeds in Attur block, and demanded that the practice be stopped immediately. Krishnamurthy, a farmers' representative said that many tribal students of Yercaud could not pursue higher education due to the non-issuance of community certificates. Farmer K.P. Kalyanasundaram demanded adequate stock of life-saving medicines in all veterinary clinics in the district. Many of these clinics, he alleged, did not have proper medicines for cattle, and cattle owners were asked to buy medicine from outside. A few other farmers also urged the Government to permit them to tap toddy from coconut and palmyra trees to boost their income.

They also urged the district administration to provide adequate drought compensation to coconut and other crops immediately. G. N. Periyaswamy, president of Tamil Nadu Tapioca Producers' Association demanded money for deepening borewells and wells. The Collector Sukumaran said that he would look into their grievances.