Government should support paddy, rubber farmers: Infarm

The Indian Farmers’ Movement (Infarm), a combine of farmers under the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council, has slammed the government for plunging paddy farmers into debt. A circular issued by Infarm chairman Bishop Remigius Inchinaniyil said the government should display urgency to provide farmers with the rubber price promised in its manifesto. Even those who claimed to be on the side of the farmers remained silent, he said. The bishop alleged that the Forest department was encroaching upon agricultural land. He appealed to the government to clear pending welfare pension payment. The bishop demanded that farmers’ groups be issued licences to kill wild animals that caused crop damage on agricultural land.