50,000 farm schools in country soon

The Hindu, May 16, 2005

Staff Reporter

ERODE: Fifty thousand farm schools would be formed across the country, especially in rural areas, by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, said Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, agriculture scientist and chairman of the Foundation.

Inaugurating a gingelly farmers’ panel discussion and a gingelly crop exhibition organized by the Foundation and Idhayam Gingelly Oil firm here on Sunday, Dr.Swaminathan said that the schools would be opened on farmers’ lands, where interactions among the farmers would be held once every three or six months.



Farmer Interaction

They could discuss high yield, reduction in cultivation cost and marketing the produce. The school would also have video-conferencing facility to contact the scientist himself.

Stating that 65 percent of the population of the country was into agriculture, he regretted that farmers did not receive the due for their produce. The Indian farming industry needed technological development to compete at the global level and Government should focus its attention on this he said.

As the Chairman of the National Council for Farmers, he had put forth suggestions to the

Government for agricultural growth in the country. The Centre granted subsides and loans to help farmers.

Efforts were on to make the country’s villages, model villages. The Foundation had opened Rural Knowledge Centres in a few districts and it would soon be extended to all districts, Dr. Swaminathan said. As the State accounted for only 25 percent of gingelly for oil extraction, the Foundation had opened three sesame seed centres in Avalpoonduarai, Poolampatty and Thottipalayam in the State.

The centres aimed at producing quality seeds and boosting gingelly cultivation, and more such centres would be opened. He exhorted more farmers to go for gingelly cultivation as it was a high-yielding crop, which required less water and attention. Farmers should use organic manure and contemporary plant protection technology to increase yield.

The Executive Director of the Foundation, M. Velayutham, the Director of Plant Protection Centre, TNAU, T. Marimuthu, the Director, Soil and Crop Development, TNAU, V.Murugappan, and the Joint Director of Agriculture, Erode, T.S.R Ramakrishnan.