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Farm development plan sought

Special Correspondent

Memorandum presented to Chief Minister

Pondicherry: The Pondicherry Farmers' Union has urged Chief Minister N. Rangasamy to ensure that a separate farm development plan is evolved while framing the eleventh five year plan (2007-2012) for the Union Territory.

The general secretary of the union, T. Geethanathan, said here in a release on Friday that a delegation met the Chief Minister and presented a detailed memorandum seeking comprehensive agricultural development programmes so that farmers' interests and welfare would not be lost sight of.

The memorandum (copy of which was distributed later to mediapersons) also wanted the Government to increase the procurement price of milk, as dairy farmers were now in deep waters with the steep increase in cattle feed prices and high cost involved to maintain milch animals.

A livestock corporation should be formed so that the grievances of livestock owners and dairy farmers could be settled without delay. Full insurance cover for the cattle should also be introduced. The delegation also wanted subsidies to dairy farmers to meet the hike in prices of cattle feed.

A separate department for protection of water resources should be formed.

Free power supply

Power supply should be available to farmers free of cost and there should be no introduction of machines to harvest and to carry out any part of farm operations, as they would displace workers.

Regulated market committees should be set up in a few more villages and the price for sugarcane sold by farmers to the cooperative sugar mills here should be raised to Rs.1,200 per tonne. The Tripartite committee should be convened to decide this price.

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