An area of 16,000 acres will be brought under black gram cultivation in the Vennar basin where kuruvai paddy cannot be raised because of depletion in water table, said M. Mathivanan, District Collector.
Inaugurating the black gram cultivation as part of the package for the district at Viswanathapuram village near Koradachery in the district, the Collector said the moisture content of the soil in and around Koradacherry was ideally suited for black gram as an alternative crop to kuruvai.
The State government had allocated Rs. 14.418 crore for the kuruvai package for the district, which included Rs. 2.72 crore for raising black gram or green manure crop. He appealed to farmers of Viswanathapuram to take to black gram cultivation using the moisture content of the soil without delay. He gave away free seeds of 10 kg an acre to farmers on the occasion.
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The Collector said the district administration had set up a special control room for monitoring the effective implementation of the kuruvai package.
Those interested in raising the crop through mechanical planter, could immediately contact the control room and register their names. The telephone number for the control room is 04366-224956 and the mobile number is 9750963315.
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K. Mayilvahanan, Joint Director of Agriculture, spoke.