CHENNAI: The state planning commission (SPC) has recommended to the Tamil Nadu government to promote decentralised production of green manure seeds to improve the implementation of long-term effectiveness of the Chief Minister’s Mannuyir Kaathu Mannuyir Kaappom (MKMK) scheme.
The report on impact analysis of green manuring, submitted by the SPC vice chairman Udhayanidhi Stalin and vice chairman J Jayaranjan to Chief Minister MK Stalin, has made several recommendations to strengthen the scheme. It identified that centralised procurement and distribution of green manure seeds led to delays in seed supply in some districts, a mismatch between seed availability and local sowing windows, dependence on annual government distribution and variations in seed quality and timely incorporation.
The SPC, to set right the above bottlenecks, recommended decentralised seed production as a course correction within the scheme, not as an external or unrelated suggestion. Village-level seed banks managed by Farmer-Producer Organisations, Self-Help Groups, and progressive farmers should be promoted.
Farmers should also be encouraged to maintain their own seed stock through practices such as bund cropping and border cropping to ensure timely availability, agro-climatic suitability, and reduced dependence on government supply. The SPC also recommended integrating green manuring with regular soil testing and soil health cards. Establishment of village-level soil testing units to help farmers track improvements in soil organic carbon, nutrient availability, and water-holding capacity is a must.
Further, to reduce additional labour and ploughing costs, the report advises convergence with schemes such as G-RAM-G and organic farming missions.
The report pointed out that such measures would lower financial burdens on farmers while improving employment generation and ecological outcomes.
While underscoring the need for subsidies in the initial phase, the SPC report cautioned against permanent dependence on them. It recommended a phased transition from input subsidies to sustainable incentives, such as performance-linked support, recognition,and productivity-based benefits.