Chennai, May 29 (IANS): Tamil Manila Congress (Moopanar) president and former Union Minister G.K. Vasan has demanded that the Tamil Nadu government facilitate the farmers by providing them loans, crop insurance and fertilisers and seeds at subsidised rates for cultivating paddy during the Kuruvai season.

In a statement on Wednesday, he also asked the state government to provide power supply for three shifts a day to irrigate crops.

Vasan said that generally every year the government opens the Mettur dam on June 12 which is the customary date for irrigating the short term Kuruvai paddy crop in the Cauvery delta districts of the state.

However this is unlikely this year due to the shortage of water in the reservoir and this would lead to reduced cultivation of Kuruvai paddy in the delta regions.

The TMC leader said that farmers in many areas of the delta districts have started cultivation expecting to use ground water and water from water bodies like lakes and ponds for irrigating the paddy crop using motor pumps.