Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

New plan to give fillip to agricultural production

TIRUCHI: National Agriculture Development Programme (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana), which seeks to give a major thrust to increasing agricultural production, is likely to be implemented in Tiruchi district as a pilot project.

The programme is to be implemented with the Rs.25,000 crore allotted for agriculture sector recently by the Union Government. It aims at achieving a four per cent growth rate in agriculture sector during the XI Plan period through a holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors.

Increasing public investment in agriculture sector and reducing the yield gap in important crops through focussed interventions would be among the important objectives of the programme.

District officials said a comprehensive district agriculture plan, comprising proposals for the scheme, has already been forwarded to the State level sanctioning committee by Agriculture, Horticulture, Agricultural Marketing, Sericulture, Animal Husbandry and other allied departments.

A district level meeting has already been held to discuss the plan and further consultations would be held with local bodies on the needs and requirements of various parts of the district. The inputs given by local body representatives would also be incorporated in the plan, Collector Ashish Vachhani told The Hindu.

Agriculture Department officials said the programme is to be implemented in districts which have not been selected for the implementation of the National Food Security Mission. The allocation for the project is expected to be made in the fourth quarter of the current financial year itself.

In Tiruchi district, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) would focus on increasing production of the major crops such as paddy, pulses, cotton and oil-seeds by providing seed subsidy up to 50 per cent and other incentives. Apart from increasing production, the five-year project also seeks to strengthen market linkages for farmers.

Assistance would be available for production of certified seeds, farm mechanisation, soil health improvement, development of rainfed farming systems and watersheds, strengthening marketing infrastructure, setting up of agri-clinics and agri-business centres and other innovative schemes.

The Agriculture Department has proposed to increase the area of coverage under paddy by another 4,500 hectares in the district from the current normal area of about 70,000 hectares a year. The area under oilseeds would be increased by 2,500 ha. The area under pulses is planned to be increased to 34,000 ha.

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