The Hindu : Community fodder scheme turns farmers' saviour

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 06, 2004

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Community fodder scheme turns farmers' saviour

By B. Chandrashekhar

ANANTAPUR JAN. 5. The community fodder development programme is fast picking up in the district and is turning into a saviour of farmers, at least for a couple of months, in the wake of another drought and the resultant scarcity of fodder. It has been taken up in about 15,300 acres so far this year with a projection of yielding 45,000 tonnes of fodder worth Rs. 9 crores.

A visit to the community fodder plots on the tank beds at Singanamala and Bukkaraya Samudram today and interaction with the share-holding farmers has revealed that the programme launched two years ago by the former District Collector, Somesh Kumar, is spreading fast among the farming community. Officials of the Animal Husbandry and Revenue Departments plan to take it up in about 30,000 acres on tank beds this year. Groups of farmers have sown fodder seed supplied by the Animal Husbandry Department free of cost in October, which has grown to a height of 7 to 8 feet now and is ready for cutting. Farmers will share the fodder produced from the community plots on the established system of `gonchidars' of the beneficiary villages.

About 70 per cent of the 2,000-acre bed of the Singanamala tank has been utilised for community fodder and other crops like cucumber and melon this year. Fodder cultivation has been taken up in 665 acres by spending only Rs. 81,000 for supplying 6.25 tonnes of fodder seed free.

It has also been taken up in another 650 acres in Bukkaraya Samudram tank. Farmers will be benefited to a great extent by getting about 1,500 tonnes of fodder worth about Rs. 30 lakhs from the Singanamala tank alone. The fodder can be shared by the participating farmers of about eight villages. Each `gonchidar' family will get fodder sufficient for two-three months for their cattle. Shankar Reddy, a farmer of P.Chedulla village, who owns two pairs of bullocks and two cows, said the share of fodder he would get from the community cultivation would be enough for about three months. Besides, the fodder plots will also be useful for cattle/sheep grazing for another month.

Explaining the plans to meet the shortage of fodder this season,the Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, K. Venkataramana, said the 9.88 lakh livestock in the district require 18.77 lakh tonnes of fodder. The farmers are in a position to get produce of about 14.5 lakh tonnes of fodder in the form of hay from groundnut, jowar and paddy crops both in kharif and rabi seasons.

Another 90,000 tonnes of fodder valued at Rs. 18 crores is expected from the community fodder cultivation in 30,000 acres. Besides, it has been planned to get 1.5 lakh tonnes from individual fodder cultivation in 50,000 acres with fodder supplied free by the Government and another 1 lakh tonnes from fodder cultivation in 5,000 acres of irrigated area with multi-cut varieties.

In spite of all this, there will be a shortfall of about 75,000 tonnes of fodder this year. The shortage will be met either through transportation of fodder from other areas or supply of feed and mineral mix, Mr Venkataramana said.

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