The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Boost for farm sector

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Boost for farm sector

Special Correspondent

Minister unveils major plans

Productivity bonus for paddy growers
Institute for climate change to be established

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran on Wednesday unveiled a plethora of agriculture development schemes, the highlight of which are productivity bonus for paddy growers, declaration of Munnar as organic agriculture zone, special agriculture zone in Kuttanad, reclaiming 20,000 hectares of paddy land for cultivation, vegetable production and marketing programme in six districts and launching three community radio stations to cater to the needs of various agriculture zones.

Replying to the debate on the demands for grants for his department, Mr. Ratnakaran said the government would also establish an institute for climate change which would study the changes in climate and the requirement of fine-tuning crop cultivation and agricultural practices.

Seed bank

The Minister said the Kisan Abhiman pension scheme would be launched on August 17. He said the government would establish a seed bank and a paddy museum in Alappuzha to ensure the availability of seeds and propagate paddy cultivation.

The department would open seed distribution centres in all the Assembly constituencies, besides distributing 10 lakh vegetable seed kits in 150 panchayats. Banana cultivation would be encouraged in 15,000 hectares under the auspices of the Horticulture Mission.

As for the community radio stations, Kuttanad Radio will be launched soon through which farm-related news would be broadcast. The vegetable production programme would be centred in six districts and would target at the export and domestic market, for which ready-to-cook vegetable kits would be marketed by the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK).

Pilot project

He said the Kerala Agricultural University was in possession of the know-how to manufacture “neera,” a special brand of toddy and Kerafed would implement a pilot project for production of this commodity.

The government was also considering a major Rs.450-crore coconut rehabilitation programme in association with the Coconut Development Board. The government would also conduct an International Coconut Conclave from October 7 to 9. Mr. Ratnakaran said the area under paddy cultivation and productivity of the crop had gone up mainly on account of the fair price for the commodity, interest-free loans and green card given to farmers.

He said the government would declare the coming year as “Fallow-less Year.” Under the new schemes under the Rice Mission, it would be possible to step up paddy cultivation by three-lakh tonnes, he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala