Dahanu chikoo farmers are getting squashed

Hundreds of chikoo growers in Dahanu will take to the streets today to protest against the steep hike in insurance premium which is costing them a bomb at a time when they are already suffering from losses incurred in Cyclone Tauktae The state government increased premium sixfold to Rs 18000 but kept the insurance claim amounts the same Till last year the premium was just Rs 3000 the farmers said They claim they approached the government but got no helpA heap of spoiled chikoos on a farm in DahanuThere are over 5000 chikoo farmers in Dahanu which is an ecologically fragile zone where residents have only one source of earning mdash farmingThey had met ministers and government officials last week seeking relief but the meeting was inconclusive Hence they have decided to show their dissent on the streets They plan to gather at prominent locations in Dahanu and form human chains to protest the hike which is only for chikoo farmers of Palghar and Thane districtslsquoStepmotherly treatmentrsquoUpset with the state government Chikoo farmers in Palghar district sought to know the reason for this ldquostepmotherlyrdquo treatment midday visited a number of chikoo farmers in Dahanu on Sunday to understand their grievances Kunal Jeetendra Mali 39 said ldquoWe the chikoo farmers have to pay premium of Rs 18000 per hectare and we can claim Rs 27000 per hectare if there is four consecutive days of 20 mm rain and five consecutive days of over 90 per cent of humidity And we can claim Rs 60000 if 20mm rain persists for eight straight days and humidity stays above 90 per cent for 10 days in a rowrdquo Mali said the possibility of claiming insurance is very low as the rain gauge and humidity metre are not rightly placed to read correct measurement and some machines have also been stolenChikoo growers Ajay Baphna and Kunal Mali show the spoilt fruits on a farm in Dahanu on SundayldquoThe insurance plan has been there for the past five to six years But we had been paying a premium of Rs 3000 per hectare per annumrdquo Sanjay Adhiya another farmer said adding that this year they had to pay Rs 18000 per hectare each year Farmers said the premium of insurance under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana PMFBY was hiked by the state government this year While the premium was increased the sum insured and the conditions for making the claim were kept the same Mali saidLast year farmers paid a premium of Rs 3000 per hectare and the state and central governments paid Rs 6000 each taking the total premium to Rs 15000 mdash which is 25 per cent of the sum insured But this year in addition to farmersrsquo premiums from the state and central governmentsrsquo contributions increased too by Rs 25500 and Rs 7500 respectively The total premium Rs 51000 per hectare made up for 85 per cent of the sum insured which was not increased along with the premiums this yearOne of the oldest generations of chikoo farmers in Dahanu Ajay Baphna said ldquoThere has been a longstanding demand for a research centre in the district to understand why this fruit is getting spoiled on the trees itself but our requests have fallen on deaf ears of the state government The fruits fall off before maturing and we have been facing this issue for the past few yearsrdquoA sixfold hikeA former professor at a private college Farzan Mazda said ldquoDahanu had been declared an Ecologically Fragile Area in 1991 wherein no change in land use is permitted to date With Chikoo farming becoming increasingly unviable and no scope for permissions for clean limited developments on the lands farmers are bound to seek compensation from the government If limited permission for clean development on the orchards be granted this scenario wonrsquot ariserdquoFarmer Kunal Jeetendra Mali shows a chikoo treeAnother chikoo farmer Ronnie Irani shifted to the hospitality business after facing difficulties in farming ldquoBut we still have a few chikoo trees and we are also sufferingrdquoVinayak Bari the president of Maharashtra Rajya Chikoo Utpadak Sangh said ldquoChikoo farming is spread across 8000 hectares in Palghar out of which 5000 hectares is in Dahanu alone At least 100 chikoo trees can be grown in 1 hectare of landrdquo ldquoWe have been helping boost the statersquos economy Then why doesnrsquot the government include the representatives of chikoo farmers while framing policy related to chikoo farmingrdquo Bari askedDahisar MLA and Dahanu resident Manisha Chaudhary said ldquoThe premium has been hiked but the return remains the same Chikoo farmers have been incurring heavy loss due to pollution The state government has squeezed chikoo farmers to benefit insurance companiesrdquo