TIRUVARUR
Ninety-six per cent of the works taken up under the special desilting scheme in the district has been completed, Collector P.Gayathri Krishnan has said.
Disclosing this in a press release on Monday, the Collector said that 155 out of 174 works taken up at a total cost of ₹ 1,634.25 lakh have been completed and the remaining works will be completed in about a week to ensure the water released for irrigation reached the tail-end areas.
Earlier, she inspected desilting of Sothiriyam irrigation canal at Kavanur in Koothanallur block. After inspecting the desilting work she made a surprise visit to the public distribution shop at Kavanur and checked the records and quality of the ration items distributed to the family cardholders.
The Collector after inspecting the direct sowing of paddy using a machine at a field in Pazhayakudi hamlet in Thiruthuraipoondi taluk last Friday said that the sustained efforts by the Agriculture and allied department officials resulted in 38% coverage of the targeted 97,000 acreage of `kuruvai’ cultivation in Tiruvarur district so far. The remaining acreage was expected to be covered within a fortnight.
So far paddy seeds were sown on 11,895 acres through direct sowing method, on 21450 acres under SRI and in 4165 acres through normal transplantation method.
`Kuruvai’ cultivation is expected on another 59,490 acres in the district, she said and added that seedlings had been raised on about 694.50 acres. Adequate quantity of seeds, fertilizers and other agriculture inputs were available for farmers for `kuruvai’ cultivation, she added.