Speaker M Appavu opens paddy seed fest at Palayamkottai

TIRUNELVELI: Hundreds of farmers displayed their paddy seeds and other crops at the paddy seed festival held at Palayamkottai on Friday. Speaker M Appavu and Collector V Vishnu flagged off the event. Addressing the farmers, Appavu said that the festival was organised for the development of farmers.

"Tirunelveli district is known for 'Nel' (paddy seed). About 60,000 hectares of land is being used for paddy cultivation in the district. With regard to food production, two lakh metric tonnes of paddy are produced every year," he said.

A majority of the cultivation depends on the Thamirabarani river, for which water from Manimuthar and Papanasam dams are released. Paddy is cultivated in three seasons -- Kar, Pisanam and Kodai (Summer) season, of which 60 % of the harvest is during Pisanam season. At present, 90% of the paddy production is achieved through high-production paddy seed varieties and only 10% is through native seed varieties, he added.

Every year funds are allotted for the district such as `300 lakh subsidy for seeds and `100 lakh subsidy for machineries. Under the Kalaignar All Villages Integrated Agricultural Development (KAVIADP) Scheme, 47 villages have been chosen for the development in terms of production increase.