‘Cotton mini-mission’ programme by Agri dept

Tirunelveli:Following drastic reduction in area under cotton cultivation in the district, the agriculture department has planned to introduce a ‘cotton mini-mission’ programme to increase productivity.After the cotton cultivation area shrunk from 8,000 hectares to 2,000 hectares, the department decided to execute the ‘special cluster approach’ strategy in 14 of the 19 blocks on an outlay of Rs.22 lakh during the current fiscal.

Under the programme, efforts will be made to increase productivity in rain-fed areas through supply of quality seeds and other assistance to farmers. The programme will focus on integrated cotton development activities in clusters that have a continuous stretch of five to 10 hectares suitable for cultivation. A total of 2,750 farmers under the Tamil Nadu Women in Agri Business and Extension Scheme, Farmer Interest Groups, Farmers Advisory Committee and Water Users’ Association will be covered.

Strategies include quality seed production and distribution, inter-cropping of pulses to ensure additional income, integrated pest management, dissemination of ideas through farmers’ field schools, distribution of inputs such as plant protection equipment, pheromone traps, bio-agents, bio-fertilizers and micro-nutrient mixtures.Farmers will be given subsidy for purchasing power and hand sprayers, bio-fertilizers etc. A sum of Rs.2.75 lakh will be spent on field demonstration, seminar and conferences. Initially, training would be given to farmers in 55 villages. Fifty farmers, having sufficient stretch of land, will be identified from each village and trained in technologies to increase productivity.