Hitech farmers @ Nellai

Tirunelvalli:Farmers being educated with the assistance of a laptop.If you think that laptops are associated only with smartly dressed software professionals in multinational firms, you are wrong.An electronic notebook is being used by farmers of Urumankulam in the district to clarify doubts regarding modern farming practices.Sitting under a tree in their farms, they get details on hi-tech horticulture methods through the laptop of the Radhapuram Horticulture Officer, S. Raja Mohammed.

When the officials of Horticulture Department selected beneficiaries from Urumankulam for the two-acre-land scheme, they found that the farmers were reluctant to pursue conventional farming methods.However, the officials camped at the village for about a week and succeeded in their attempt to impart training on hi-tech methods.“We explained about the success of hi-tech farming practices followed by a few progressive farmers in Tamil Nadu and outside. They practice methods like drip irrigation, fertigation, bee-keeping in the farms, organic farming, vermicomposting, etc. Since, I have saved all these stories on compact discs, I took my laptop to the village to give the villagers an idea of what we were teaching all these days,” Mr. Raja Mohamed said.

Right from developing land and creating irrigation sources to planting of amla grafts with micro-irrigation and fertigation facilities, everything was shown on the laptop that enticed the villagers.They received a farm kit worth Rs. 11.86 lakh.With the Radhapuram MLA, M. Appavu, and the Revenue Divisional Officer, Cheranmahadevi, Anne Mary Swarna, monitoring the exercise, the National Service Scheme volunteers of Holy Redeemer Higher Secondary School, Thisayanvilai, planted amla grafts.