After restoring the tradition of celebrating the Tamil New year on the first of Chithirai, the AIADMK government is now planning a massive farmers' festival this year to give a boost to agriculture.
The previous DMK regime celebrated the Tamil New Year on the first day of the month of Thai. The present government scrapped the law in this regard.
Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said that beginning April 13, the Tamil New Year's Day, the government would organise Farmers' Grand Festival in all 16,564 revenue villages. A feast would mark the occasion.
“While providing exposure to farmers on the challenges of modern agriculture, the festival will prepare them to become experts in their field. Thus, it will pave the way for a second green revolution in the State,” she said, amid the thumping of desk by the treasury benches.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said that the festival would be organised in the form of awareness camps where information on the work of all departments and benefits of all schemes would be made available to farmers.
The Agriculture Department had created a software on Information Technology-dependent crop management scheme to ensure that new crop varieties and technology reached farmers without delay.
Besides officials from the departments of agriculture, horticulture, agricultural marketing, agricultural engineering, animal husbandry, fisheries and dairy development, scientists from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Husbandry University and representatives of primary agricultural cooperative banks and other service banks would be involved in the camps. It would follow the approach of a mobile extension centre.
“Officials and scientists will visit every revenue village along with input distributors and inform the farmers about crops suited to their village, technology and integrated farming methods including cattle rearing, sericulture, agro-forestry and fisheries. Solutions to the problems related to the local farms will be found in the camps,” she said.
The government would provide information to the farmers through cultural events such as therukoothu, drama, folk song and dance during the festival. Besides organising small exhibitions and demonstrations and distributing technological guides and booklets and inputs, meetings with experts, agricultural inputs distributors would also be arranged.
The Chief Minister said as agriculture was facing manpower crisis owing to the migration of farm labourers from villages to urban areas, her government had introduced the mechanisation of farm activities in a big way.
“We have given Rs.80 crore as grant to 400 primary agricultural cooperative societies (Rs.20 lakh each) for purchase of machines. Farmers can hire these machines at a nominal rate and produce more food even in small areas.”
The government is providing 100 per cent subsidy to small and medium farmers utilising micro-irrigation and 75 per cent subsidy to others. “The government has also ordered construction of godowns so that farmers can keep their produce till they get a better price.”
