CHENNAI: At a time when farmers in Tamil Nadu are fighting against heavy odds to save their crops from water shortage, the Agriculture Department is initiating a slew of measures to bail them out by providing incentives and technological assistance to add value to their produce and ensure remunerative prices. Under the Mission for Sustainable Dryland Agriculture (MSDA), efforts are on to set up 50 value addition units across 25 districts in the State.
A subsidy of 75 per cent of the total cost for establishing such a unit will be provided to farmer producers organisations and farmer producers groups. The rest should be borne by the beneficiary. The subsidy will be a maximum of `10 lakh per unit.“The value addition units are being established to encourage farmers to grow millets, pulses and oil seeds, which are less water-intensive. They can convert their produce into value-added products and find better markets with options for remunerative prices,” a top officer of Agriculture Department told Express.
A committee headed by the District Collector in each of the 25 districts will choose the place and farmer producers organisations eligible to set up value addition units. Continuous monitoring would be made to ensure their smooth functioning.“Only viable places and effective farmer producers organisations will be tasked with running the value addition units. They will be continuously monitored,” the officer added.
Under phase one of the MSDA project, 200 clusters have been created to promote cultivation of short-term crops in dryland areas. Millets, pulses and oil seeds are being cultivated in roughly two lakh hectares in these clusters.As a pilot project, 50 clusters are being chosen to establish the value addition units.
The Pulse of farming
● Dryland agriculture refers to cultivation of rainfed crops
● In Tamil Nadu, millets, pulses and oil seeds are mostly raised under rainfed condition
● In such areas, the input use and yield obtained would invariably be less compared to irrigated areas
● As large number of farmers depend on dryland agriculture for their livelihood, ensuring sustainability assumes importance to improve the livelihood of farmers
● Under the mission, 75 per cent subsidy or a maximum of `10 lakh for each unit
● 25 per cent to be contributed by farmers producers organisation
● District level committees to choose place of unit and organisation
● Roasting machine, destoner-cum-grader, pulveriser, groundnut decodicator, oil expeller, bottle filling equipment, destoner -cum-grader cup aspirator would be provided