Farmers who participated at the Food Day celebrations in the Gandhi Memorial Museum here on Sunday urged the Union and the State governments to supply labour for farming activities through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
Advocate T. Gurusami, president of the Joint Action Committee of Agricultural Associations, Tamil Nadu, said that all the village panchayats in the State should pass resolutions urging the government to supply labour for agricultural activities.
According to him, farmers who cultivate millets in small land holdings are affected because of labour shortage. He also added that the Food Day celebration was aimed at creating awareness among the public on the importance of taking healthy and traditional food.
ADVERTISEMENT
K. Revathi, the owner of a millet snack manufacturing unit, said that patronising millet food could be the only way to revive the livelihood of farmers affected due to emergence of fast food culture.
Puliyur Nagarajan, president of farmers association in Tiruchi, insisted that the government should consider supplying labour under the NREGS scheme for farming activities.
To spread the awareness of healthy eating, food items such as ragi puttu, ragi murukku, varagu kozhukattai, ada dosai made of minor and major millets, thinai arisi payasam and sukku malli coffee were served to the participants.
ADVERTISEMENT