MADURAI
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) conducted an awareness campaign for farmers on formation of pulse commodities group at Kidaripatti in Melur block on Tuesday to augment their overall collective income.
Associate Professor N. Seenivasan, who addressed the gathering, said the only way to ensure a sizeable income was collective farming. “About 15-20 members, ideally from a particular block, should join to form a group, which will pool in funds (minimum ₹500 for each) for creating a corpus. That fund should be used for purchasing inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and plant protection chemicals to reduce input cost,” he said.
He added that a bank account would be created for the fund, from which the members could get loans in the future. “The State government provides a rebate of ₹5 lakh for active groups,” he said.
Head of Plant Pathology Department, TNAU, E.G. Ebenezar distributed black gram seeds to the farmers under the Area Expansion and Productivity Enhancement of Pulses Programme of the National Food Security Mission.
Village panchayat president Hemalatha Mathivanan took part in the programme.