Pulses have been raised on 79,000 hectares in Tiruvarur district and harvest has already started said M. Chandrasekaran, Collector at Tiruvarur on Thursday.
Speaking at the farmers grievances day meeting, Chandrasekaran said that black gram has been raised on 44,141 hectares and green gram on 34,813 hectares.
Athikottai village has been identified as model pulses village under National Pulses Development Programme, the Collector said. A total of 1.70 lakh tonnes of samba paddy had been procured in the district through 379 Direct Purchase Centres of the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation.
Farmers who spoke on the occasion demanded distribution of inputs by Agriculture Department for taking up organic farming.
They also demanded uninterrupted power supply for their agriculture pump sets. Desilting should be done in Baminiyar, Korayar and Vettar. Neyveli kattamanakku in irrigation and drainage channels should be removed under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Anbazhagan, Joint Director of Agriculture participated in the meeting.
