Puducherry: Agriculture and Industries Minister V. Vaithilingam has said that the Land Use Board (of which he is the ex-officio chairman) here will very scrupulously process applications received from the entrepreneurs intending to purchase farmlands to start industries in the Union Territory.

He told reporters here on Tuesday that the fertile land in Puducherry was already coming down steeply what with vast tracts of lands being converted into residential and industrial zones. There was every need for the Government to safeguard fertile lands. Mr. Vaithilingam said that it was indeed a matter of concern that entrepreneurs starting industries here were purchasing sites (farm lands) to an extent that was in excess of their requirements. Consequently, farmers were losing their lands and the farm labourers were also facing a crisis.

The Land Use Board would, therefore, be scrupulous and process the applications from entrepreneurs for lands very meticulously. The Government had now decided that the sites on which industries had come up and which had become sick and non-functional would be taken over by the Government and these sites would be placed at the disposal of the entrepreneurs. Twenty such sites had been identified so far which could be used for new industries.

Mr. Vaithilingam said that the Department of Agriculture was also keen on diversification of agriculture and farmers were persuaded to take up horticultural activities.

To start with, a team of experts from the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University in Coimbatore had already held programmes to generate awareness about utility of horticultural activities in Karaikal.

Farmers would take up cashew cultivation and also raising "sappota" and "amla" variety of horticultural crops and traditional cultivation of paddy was becoming a challenging task now.

Similar training

The university team also conducts a similar training and awareness programme for farmers in Puducherry at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra here on November 14 to popularise horticulture.

Mr. Vaithilngam said that the monsoon rain was virtually scanty. He said only urban pockets were receiving heavy rains since recently, while most of the interior villages were getting very scanty showers. The uneven rainfall was unhelpful to farmers.

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