CHENNAI: The State government will encourage crop diversification through cultivation of millets and pulses as 29 districts in the State have been identified as vulnerable to the impact of global climate change.“Special schemes will be implemented to popularise the cultivation of millets and pulses as an alternative to water-intensive crops. Under the Crop Diversification Programme, farmers will be encouraged to cultivate high value, short-duration crops as an alternative to low-value crops, after harvesting field crops. The scheme will be implemented in an area of 20,000 acres at an outlay of Rs 16 crore,” the minister said.
High-value seedlings like red sander, sandal, mahogany, teak etc would be distributed to farmers to encourage agroforestry at an allocation of Rs 12 crore. Panneerselvam also informed that a special package will be provided to encourage farmers to take up alternative crops such as millets, pulses and oilseeds in Kar, Kuruvai, Sornavari season to an extent of 66,000 acres at an outlay of Rs 10 crore.
Giving boost to organic farming, he announced that farmers who are interested in it would be integrated to form 150 clusters covering an area of 7,500 acres at an outlay of Rs 5 crore under Union and State government funds. Under the Nel Jeyaraman Traditional Paddy Varieties Conservation Mission, traditional paddy varieties would be cultivated on 200 acres in the State seed farms and distributed at subsidy to 20,000 farmers at an outlay of Rs 75 lakh.
Besides, the Tamil Nadu State Seed Development Agency (TANSEDA) will produce 30,000 metric tonnes of certified seeds of paddy, pulses and oilseeds and distribute them. Strategic plan for increasing the overall cultivation area of TN, setting up of special zone for increasing tur dal cultivation, implementing cashless transaction at agricultural extension centres are among the other key announcements.Representatives of associations told TNIE that though the allocations for many schemes are small, they are happy that the government had recognised the needs of farmers.