DEHRADUN: After Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath announced Rs 36,359 crore farm loan waiver , farmers in Uttarakhand are hopeful of the same with the new BJP government at the helm of the state.Representatives of various farmer bodies' said they were hoping that Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Rawat, who would chair a cabinet meeting on Friday, would waive off farmers' loan to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore on the lines of the UP chief minister, who took the decision at his first cabinet meeting.According to government data, highest amount of debt is on Udham Singh Nagar district, which is endowed with highly fertile land."Farmers are under a debt burden of over Rs 40 crore in our district. Incessant weather and dramatic rise and fall in temperatures lead to extreme climate conditions destroying our crops repeatedly. We are hoping that the new government takes a cue from the neighbouring BJP-led government, which has recognised the farmers' pain," said Devender Kumar, a member of farmers union in Udham Singh Nagar.Meanwhile, farmers from the hills have said loan waiver, along with proper farming policy, will be in the favour of farmers, as loan waiver alone would not do much."In the hills, people have stopped farming, fearing loss caused due to animal-human conflict. It will be good if the new government chalk out a policy, along with financial aid, else they will have to keep waiving off loans every year. Our people are hardworking, but zero assurance by the past governments has led to migration," said Vijay Jardhari, the lead person of seed revolution in India.After Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Nainital are worst hit with farmers in these three districts are under heavy loan burden. The last year, plain districts also recorded major fall in agricultural land due to rise in urbanisation which, according to experts, is an indication that farmers are demotivated to carry on farming despite the Centre's providing subsidies and alluring offers."It is high time for the state government to not only waive off our debts, but also come up with strategy to tackle rising threat of various natural and man-made calamities such as landslides and hailstorms," said Ravikant Rawat , another farmer from Haridwar.