The territorial administration will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to enhance agriculture productivity in Puducherry and Karaikal regions.
Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Sunday told presspersons that the Agriculture department would enter into an agreement with ICRISAT, an international agriculture research organisation, next month to encourage farmers to go for organic farming and drip-irrigation.
Under the pact, farmers would also be persuaded to switch over to alternative crops and adopt innovative farming techniques. Thousands of farmers would benefit from the venture, he added.
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The department, in association with Transfarm, an entity formed by a few like-minded youth, helped farmers take up organic paddy cultivation on 200 acres of land. The yield from a few acres of paddy harvested showed positive results, he added.
Karaikal airport
The government was in talks with Cochin International Airport to build a greenfield airport at Karaikal. The administration had given land to a private player 12 years ago to build an airport. However, the entity had failed to start work. The government was in talks with Cochin International Airport to revive the airport project, he said.
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Expressing optimism about increasing the flight services from Puducherry, he said Air Odisha would start flight service from here after the successful launch by SpiceJet to Hyderabad and Bengaluru routes. On the strike in Puducherry Agro Service and Industries Corporation Ltd., he said the government was considering ways to make the society viable. Several steps, including opening of new liquor outlets and petrol pumps, were being considered to revive the society, he said.