The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Adopt low-cost farming techniques, ryots urged

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 18, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Adopt low-cost farming techniques, ryots urged

Staff Reporter

Monthly agriculturists' grievance meeting held

TAMBARAM: At a meeting on Friday, farmers of Kancheepuram district were urged to explore alternative avenues of low-cost, high-profit methods of farming and fish culture.

The monthly agriculturists' grievance meeting of the district was held at State Forest Research Station in Kolapakkam near Vandalur.

Officials from Forest, Fisheries and Agriculture department made a presentation about the various new methods of farming and fish culture that could be implemented with very little investment and hardly any modification to their conventional methods of farming. Kancheepuram Collector Pradeep Yadav said the meeting was held at the Forest Research Station with the primary objective of exposing farmers to the new trends that were being developed.

Elaborate research was being carried out at the station and farmers could make use of facilities available here. Forest Department officials told farmers that cultivation of teakwood and other commercial crops could be carried out without modifying their existing land, or investing in expensive machinery.

Alternative methods

They said alternative methods of farming came up as finding labour was becoming increasingly difficult and also expensive in villages in the fringes of Chennai. Pointing out that water was not scarce in the district, farmers could also opt for inexpensive methods of cultivation of fish varieties that were in demand in the cities and also in overseas markets.

During the interaction, farmers from different parts of the district complained about poor roads leading to markets and also about the erratic power supply resulting in motor pumps getting damaged.

There was also frayed tempers when a section of farmers complained that 20,000 petitions were sent from Madurantakam areas seeking land rights and pattas, but the district administration failed to take any action.

When Mr. Pradeep Yadav said the grievance meeting was for farmers and this problem could be debated separately, the farmers insisted. However another section insisted that only the problems of farmers should be discussed.

This followed argument between two sections of farmers. Later the Collector resumed hearing of grievances and received their petitions.

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