Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007 ePaper |
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Tamil Nadu
Staff Reporter
‘They will help to maximise agricultural productivity’
SALEM: The State Government has initiated steps to establish seed testing laboratories in eight more districts at an estimated cost of Rs. 2.15 crore this financial year, Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam has said. Inaugurating three new seed testing laboratories established at Salem, Erode and Viluppuram districts at a function held here on Monday, the Minister said that the following districts were selected for setting up new laboratories - Dindigul, Theni, Thiruvannamalai, Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Virudhunagar, Tuticorin and Velur. The State now has 11 seed testing laboratories, he added. As the number of seed samples received for testing from farmers, seed certification department and sellers had increased significantly, each district required a laboratory to provide the service, the Minister pointed out. Establishment of more laboratories would enable the Government to ensure the supply of quality seeds and maximise productivity, he added. It would help maximising the agricultural productivity, he added. The production of certified seeds in the State had gone up from 24,452 tonnes in 1996-97 to 60,597 tonnes in 2006-07, registering an increase of 147.82 per cent. The percentage of distribution of poor quality seeds had came down from 7.9 per cent to 5.09 per cent, indicating the increase in the supply of quality seeds to the farmers, the Minister said. Tamil Nadu was the first State in the country to set up a laboratory to test the genetically modified seeds. The State had become a model for others in implementing seed certification programmes, and quality control, he said. Later, he distributed welfare assistance worth Rs. 11 lakh to 143 beneficiaries. Agriculture Secretary Surjit K Chaudhary, in his special address, said that the Government had filed 395 cases against those who violated rules relating to seed quality and certification. He called upon farmers to utilise the services offered by the laboratories. Presiding over the function, Collector N. Mathivanan said that the district produced 2,857 tonnes of certified seeds in the last year. The district administration established seed farms in 1,034 hectares this year so far. Seed Certification Director in-charge S. Perumal, Mayor J. Rekha Priyadarshini, and senior officials were present.
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