With the custom hiring centres for agricultural machines and equipment set up by the Agricultural Engineering Department gaining popularity among farmers, a new centre was opened inthe district on Monday.
Speaking after handing over farm machinery worth Rs.1.17 crore to 62 farmers sanctioned by the Agricultural Engineering Department here on Monday, Collector K. Nandakumar said already three such centres had been opened in the district and two more would be opened in course of time.
The centre would rent out various farm machinery to farmers on a nominal rent. The Collector gave away machinery to three centres on Monday. Each centre got a subsidy of Rs. 10 lakh towards purchase of machinery. The Collector also gave away farm machinery such as chaff cutter, rotavator and seed drill machines to individual farmers.
C. K. Nagajothi, Executive Engineer, Agricultural Engineering Department, said farmers were being encouraged to set up farm ponds. N. Rajendran, Assistant Executive Engineer, said there was a growing awareness among farmers in using machinery as it facilitated expeditious and quality work.
Chandran, Joint Director of Agriculture, was present.
