For the 10 prisoners who began tilling a piece of land on the premises of Coimbatore Central Prison on Wednesday, it was a positive step forward in their life.
Thanks to the joint efforts of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the State Agricultural and Prison Departments and the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, these prisoners will learn the nuances of farming.
The BARC has come forward to provide the seeds of high-yielding drought-resistant groundnut variety it had developed, free of cost. And the Agriculture Department and TNAU will help the prison inmates prepare the seeds for sowing and conduct soil-testing.
K. Anandan, Superintendent of Coimbatore Central Prison, says the plan was to initially take up cultivation in five acres in the prison followed by another ten acres in the open air jail at Singanallur here. Besides generating revenue, the groundnut sales would also benefit the public as the rates would be much lower than the market price. The prisoners would be paid Rs. 100 per day.
J. Daniel Chellappa, senior scientist (technical coordination wing) of BARC, says this project was first successfully implemented in the prisons at Sivaganga, Madurai and Palayamkottai. The BARC had donated 350 kg of seeds to these prisons. The first harvest of groundnuts was done at Palayamkottai this June. The seeds from these harvests were now being used in other prisons and sub-jails in Tamil Nadu.
“The Agriculture Department says the average yield for groundnut in Palayamkottai was 2 tonnes to 2.5 tonnes per hectare. The BARC’s groundnut variety yields nearly five tonnes per hectare with the profit being Rs. 2 lakh,” he says.
K. Raja Mohan, Agricultural Officer, Sulur, says they would provide technical support such as ascertaining the quantum of fertiliser and pesticides needed for these crops.
P.L. Viswanathan, Head, Department of Oil Seeds, TNAU, says the quality of seeds were important for groundnut cultivation.