The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Two farmers’ clubs formed in Avinashi block

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Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Two farmers’ clubs formed in Avinashi block

Staff Reporter

Clubs formed to trigger development
Plans to diversify into allied activities

Tirupur: Agriculture credit flow and technology transfer in farming sector are set for a leap in Avinashi block as National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) opened two farmers’ clubs under its programme on Friday.

The clubs, Rajiv Farmers’ Club at Ayyappanaickenpalayam village and Iyarkai Farmers’ Club at Alathur village, have 12 members each and both got credit-linked to Canara Bank.

NABARD Assistant General Manager V. Suresh told ‘The Hindu’ that the clubs were constituted to trigger economic and social development through a combination of credit, technology transfer and capacity building.

To support the operational costs for three years, the NABARD would be extending a maintenance grant of Rs. 10,000 per annum to each of the clubs for a period of three years.

“In addition to this, expenses of farmers’ training at research institutions like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University will be borne by NABARD to facilitate transfer of technology from laboratory to the field,” Mr. Suresh said.

Lead Bank Manager R. Murugesan opined that the clubs would help diversification of lending. For the farmers, the constitution of the clubs had brought a ray of hope for expansion of their activities. A P Shanmugam, president of Rajiv Farmers’ Club, said that the easy availability of credit owing to linkage with Canara Bank, would help us fructify our plans to diversify into allied activities like poultry and cattle rearing.

“Presently, we are involved only in the cultivation of agriculture crops,” he said.

Similarly, the members of Iyarkai Club plans to expand area of cultivation under banana, turmeric and sugarcane.

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