COIMBATORE: Farmers have urged the Horticulture Department to revise the procedures followed in the tissue-cultured banana subsidy scheme.
They said that the scheme facilitates getting 125 tissue-cultured bananas for a hectare of land for intercropping among coconut trees instead of the actual need for 1,000 bananas.
K Balakrishnan, farmers’ wing secretary of the Athikadavu-Kausika Development Committee, said, “The Horticulture Department is implementing the subsidy-based banana intercrop cultivation scheme. Under this scheme, beneficiaries are provided less number of tissue banana plantain for intercropping".
"While coconut trees are cultivated at around 170 per hectare, tissue bananas will provide less than 125 per hectare. Therefore we have been appealing to the government that the number of tissue-cultured bananas given to farmers for intercropping must be revised and increased according to field reality and scientific method.”
He added, “Also, most of the farmers prefer high-yielding quintal banana variety. However, the local (Nattu Ragam) tissue bananas are provided to beneficiaries under the scheme. We appeal to the department to consider this and provide a high-yielding variety. Otherwise, if the subsidy amount of this project is given directly to the farmers as a back subsidy, the farmers will get real additional income while they select the variety and good quality seedlings suitable for the soil.”
P Siddharthan, deputy director of the Coimbatore horticulture department, said, “As per the guidelines of State Horticulture Development Scheme, 50 per cent subsidy out of Rs 10,000 per hectare is provided for banana seedlings and intermediates to encourage the farmers who are intercropping banana with coconut. It is provided as a small support to farmers to promote intercropping and efforts will be made to provide the same after taking their views.”