The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Drip irrigation system for Virudhunagar farmers soon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 08, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Drip irrigation system for Virudhunagar farmers soon

World Bank team inspects works in the district

INTERACTION: A World Bank team inspects a chilli oil extraction unit in Virudhunagar on Thursday.

VIRUDHUNAGAR: A World Bank team on Thursday inspected the progress of the Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation and Water Resources Management project in the district.

Team members Sankar Narayanan (sociologist), Elliot Mghenya (economist) and Inder Abrol (agricultural specialist), along with Collector V. Chandrasekaran, inspected works taken up under the scheme at a cost of Rs.63.15 crore. The project aims at modernising the irrigation system in the Arjuna river sub-basin in Watrap, Srivilliputtur, Virudhunagar, Sattur and Sivakasi. It also aims to achieve higher productivity of water with coordinated efforts from departments.

In a statement, the Collector said the team asked farmers to cultivate ‘namdhari,’ a hybrid chilli, the oil extracted from which had great demand in foreign countries. The team also suggested contract farming with traders.

The team members interacted with farmers, who said they got 15 per cent additional yield by following modern cultivation methods. Some of the farmers said they turned to maize from paddy as the tail-end areas of ayacut could not get sufficient water for irrigation at Malli.

At Thailapuram, farmers said intercropping of Bengal gram with banana was beneficial to them. Officials said the farmers would be provided with drip irrigation system to save water. Farmers sought the continuation of subsidy for seeds and fertilizer.

Personal Assistant to Collector (Agriculture) R. Balasubramanian was present.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu