CHENNAI: CPM on Monday urged the State government to provide Rs 35,000 per acre compensation to farmers who lost the harvest-ready paddy crops to unseasonal rainfall in the Cauvery Delta districts.

"Sunday’s unseasonal downpour in Delta has badly hit paddy crops up for harvest. Over one lakh acres of paddy crops ready for harvest in Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam and Thanjavur districts, as well as sorghum and millet crops have been submerged in water and damaged. Due to this, farmers have lost their entire livelihood and are in a state of despair," CPM state secretary P Shanmugam said in a statement.

He added the state government should depute officials to assess crop damage immediately and provide a compensation of Rs 35,000 per acre for paddy and adequate compensation for other crops as per the damages incurred.

The Marxist party leader also urged the State government to change the practice of picking paddy at a moisture content of 17 per cent at the direct paddy procurement centre and to increase it to 22 per cent.