The Agriculture Department would promote about 10 groups of farm women and train them in agro-business enterprises and allied ventures in the district during the current year under the National Agricultural Development Programme.
Each of the groups, christened Tamil Nadu Women in Agri Business and Entrepreneurship (TANWABE) farm groups, would be provided entrepreneurship training and provided back-ended subsidy. Each group would have a minimum of 15 members and they would be encouraged to start agro-business ventures on completion of training.
The women would be trained in various agriculture related activities such as cattle rearing, poultry farming and modern agricultural techniques such as the system of rice intensification and sustainable sugarcane initiative.
The first three-day training programme for a group from Keezha Kalkandarkottai in Tiruverumbur block began here on Wednesday. Inaugurating the training, J.Sekar, Joint Director of Agriculture, Tiruchi, pointed out that farm women had played a big role in improving agricultural practices and emphasised the need for greater involvement of women in promoting modern agricultural practices.
Mr.Sekar said all the 10 TANWABE groups would be provided training and provided Rs.15,000 as back-ended subsidy to start farm based activities.
P.Rajasekaran, Joint Director of Animal Husbandry said agriculture related activities such goat rearing and backyard poultry are best suited for farm women groups because they do not require heavy investment and technical know-how.
R.Chandrasekaran, Deputy Director of Agriculture (Central Schemes) Rs.15,000 has been sanctioned for providing training for each of the women's groups to improve their entrepreneurial skills under NADP. Farm women could play a major role in supplementing the income of agricultural families by taking up agro-based ventures. R.Ravi, Assistant Director of Agriculture, Tiruverumbur, K.Balraj, Assistant Director (Quality Control), spoke.
Nithyaselvi, Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, elaborated on goat breeds which are best suited for rearing, vaccination schedule and cattle feed. Rajarajan, assistant professor, TANUVAS Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Tiruchi, briefed the participants about diseases affecting the goats and preventive measures.
