Farmers oppose extension of new system of distribution of fertilizers

Farmers’ representatives of Tiruchi district have opposed any move to extend the new system of distribution of fertilisers, introduced by the Union government as a pilot project in two districts in the State, to other districts.The new system, implemented through the Framework for Fertilizer Sale (FFS) App, has been introduced in Erode and Sivaganga districts in Tamil Nadu on a pilot basis and is expected to be extended to other districts soon.Raising the issue at the monthly farmers grievances meeting here on Friday, Aylia Sivasuriyan, district secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, affiliated to the Communist Party of India, pointed out that the Centre had introduced the new procedure to prevent irregularities in the distribution of fertilisers.Farmers are required to obtain the unique identity issued by the Union Ministry of Agriculture by registering the extent of their land holding in the FFS App and get a token using a QR code to get fertilisers. Under the process, only land holding farmers can obtain the ID and tenant farmers who had been tilling the lands of temples and mutts for several years would not be able to get the same, Mr. Sivasuriyan said.“Most of the tenant farmers are small and marginal farmers and they would not be able to get fertilisers at subsidised rates if the system is extended to all districts. Besides, they will face difficulties in accessing the schemes, including crop insurance, implemented by the Union government. A majority of small and marginal farmers do not own smart phones and will find it difficult to access the schemes through a mobile app,” he said and called upon the government to retain a simple process for getting fertilisers and accessing schemes and ensure that they were available for tenant farmers too.The district secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), V. Chidambaram, said tenant farmers were not able to register for crop insurance as they could not complete the owner verification process, which required an OTP.Responding to the complaint, a district official handling crop insurance said that the issue had been taken to the notice of the Agriculture Production Commissioner/Secretary and an officer is being deputed to New Delhi to sort this out and a few other issues faced by farmers in crop insurance.A section of farmers complained of meagre water flow in the tail-end areas of various canals in the district.R. Subramanian, secretary, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association, said farmers in the tail-end areas of the Kattalai High Level Canal have not got water, affecting samba cultivation on about 9,000 acres. P. Ayyakannu, president, Desiya Thennidiya Nadigal Innaippu Vivasayigal Sangam, said tail-end areas of the North Bank Canal had not got water and urged the Water Resources Department to shift its head sluice to the Mayanur Barrage as the canal’s bed level was much higher than that of the Cauvery at Sriramasamudiram.In response to other complaints raised by farmers, District Collector Pratik Tayal, who chaired the meet, pulled up a Forest Department official for failing to convene a meeting with farmers to discuss the damage caused to crops by monkeys and other animals despite his instructions and directed him to notify the date of the meeting soon.He told the farmers that details of power shutdown and government schemes would be shared on local/block-level WhatsApp groups. Published - October 30, 2026 04:48 pm IST