“Though 19.31 lakh hectares of fallow lands have been officially identified there are actually 35 lakh hectares of fallow lands present in the state. Many have left their villages to other cities and foreign countries in search of jobs and their lands are lying fallow. All of them will be brought under cultivation in a phased manner,” C Samayamoorthy, Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, told DT Next.

‘Kalaignarin Anaithu Grama Orunginaintha Velaan Valarchi Thittam’ has been announced as the flagship scheme of the Agriculture department, in the first independent budget on agriculture presented by Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam. The scheme with the “overall development of all the villages with self-sufficiency in agriculture” aims at putting at least 11.75 lakh hectares of fallow land into cultivation.

The scheme will be implemented in collaboration with various departments, including Horticulture, Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Marketing and Agri-Business, Revenue and Disaster Management, Co-operatives, Food and Consumer Protection, Dairy, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Irrigation and Energy.

However, all the departments involved in the scheme has several challenges in implementation. “Unlike the olden days, agriculture is now carried out with modern equipment and tractors and for them rural connectivity has become essential for which roads should be laid by the Rural Development department. Similarly, to carry out cultivation in fallow lands, crop loan is essential for which the Cooperatives department should provide loan,” said Samayamoorthy, who also added that without the coordination of the departments the scheme cannot be implemented.

He also said that Revenue and Disaster Management should step-in by making the process of patta transfer faster and easier and the electricity department should provide power for irrigating cropped lands. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department has started implementing the scheme by encouraging farmers to go for suitable horticulture crops. Cluster farming is the key approach adopted by the farming department to successfully implement the scheme.

“We have adopted a focused approach method with the twin objectives of area expansion and increase in productivity to successfully implement the flagship scheme,” added Samayamoorthy.