At a workshop for the farmers held on new techniques to be adopted in agriculture, speakers hoped that the district would be poised for a higher production at the end of the harvest.
Under the Agriculture Technology Management Agency, a district level training programme for the farmers in paddy SRI (system of rice intensification) was held at the Agricultural College and Research Institute here on Thursday.
Madurai East MLA K. Tamilarasan said that farmers' should take the help of the scientists available at the ACRI.
They should learn the nuances and the new technologies introduced in developed nations.
Only when such techniques are implemented will the yield increase and the farmers can benefit by reaping in huge revenues, he said. He also wanted the faculty members in the institute to disseminate techniques to the farmers in simple language.
Dean of the Institute, K. Vairavan said that the Chief Minister had expressed her desire to improve the standards of living of the farmers and thus assured to double the production, which would ultimately pave way for added income for the ryots. This would automatically bring in more area under cultivation. Problems like migration too could be prevented, he said and added that by adopting the SRI techniques, many small and marginal farmers had reaped in benefits.
Deputy Director N. D. Sampath Kumar said that the integrated farm plan for each and every farmer is being prepared. Once the booklet is ready, the details of the holdings would be made known and accordingly it would enable the field staff to monitor the produce raised in their regions.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Assistant Director (Madurai East) S. Kanagaraj stressed on practising organic agriculture and to go in for green manure, compost and bio-fertilisers, apart from adopting SRI technique.
A total of 75 farmers participated in the workshop.
