He said the inclement weather last month had adversely affected farmers’ produce in north India. “The state governments must adequately compensate for the huge losses suffered by the farmers ranging from 10 to 40 per cent at different places,” he said.
Welcoming Haryana government’s decision to increase subsidy on pesticides to 35 per ent from the 25 per cent earlier, he said the policy should be continued in future as well.
Surjewala demanded strict action for people producing and selling spurious pesticides, seeds and agriculture equipments. Lamenting the recent ban on PUSA 1121 variety of basmati, he said the UPA government’s decision had harmed the interest of the farmers. He also blamed the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for not giving special package to the two major agriculture states — Haryana and Punjab.