CHENNAI: The state government has announced the launch of a new portal ‘GRAINS’ (Grower Online Registration of Agriculture Input System) in a bid to simplify the process of availing government benefits for farmers.
GRAINS will collect and digitize basic farmer details such as bank account information, Aadhar number, land ownership, and cultivation information. The initiative will allow farmers to access multiple benefits, including crop loans, incentives for sugarcane and paddy cultivation, relief assistance under the State Disaster Response Fund, and scheme benefits from 13 different agriculture-related departments, all from a single source.
GS Dhanapathy, state general secretary of Farmers Forum India, has welcomed the announcement, saying, “This one-stop solution will benefit farmers who have had to navigate through a complicated process to access benefits in the past.” He hopes the government will seek farmers’ opinions before implementing the portal to ensure its success.