THANJAVUR: With food production touching six lakh tonnes last year, Thanjavur district was placed third in the State pointed out District Collector A Annadurai.
Speaking at the farmers welfare workshop held as part of the Union Government’s Gram Swaraj Abhiyan in town on Wednesday, he added that Tamil Nadu has been given the Krishi Karman award for three consecutive years.
The Collector thanked the farmers for their contribution in securing this position among the other districts in the State. In the same breath, he exhorted farmers to adopt new technologies in farming for greater yield. He went on to say that foreigners have paid a visit to Kumbakonam and Swamimalai to acquaint themselves with agricultural practices that were being followed in the area.
In 2017, the Collector said that more than 500 lakes and ponds were desilted and efforts were on to desilt more water bodies this year as well. “The farmers could send in their request in this regard through agricultural officers”, he added.
He further said that as many as 63 villages have been chosen in the district under the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan. “Under the scheme, all the households in these villages will be provided with seven types of welfare schemes including bank accounts, insurance schemes and LED lamps,” Annadurai said adding that 95 per cent of welfare schemes have been completed in these villages.
The Collector handed over solar power insect traps, tarpaulin, battery operated sprayers, PVC pipes, soil health cards, tractors and four-power tillers to beneficiaries with welfare assistance worth Rs 12.49 lakh provided for farmers at the function. Khattaria, joint secretary, Government of India and the monitoring officer for the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan; N Sakthivel, District Revenue officer; P Manthirachalam, Project Director, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and A Mathiyalagan, Joint Director of Agriculture were among those present.