40 Tamil Nadu farmers to go to China and Israel on agriculture study trips

Farmers from Tamil Nadu will be flying out to China and Israel to study ways and methods of improving their farming methods and improving the yield. Twenty farmers will be identified and sent to China, and another 20 will visit Israel, to closely study its drip irrigation practice in farming.

The move follows Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s announcement in the last Assembly session, stating the need for irrigation methods to be upgraded in the state as well. Accordingly, the Horticulture Department is identifying farmers who can be sent abroad to learn modern irrigation methods and cultivation technology. 

China is known to harvest bumper crops of vegetables and fruits practically round the year. Even in the 1990s, it was famed for its bumper crop of tomatoes and other vegetables. The country’s speciality is its hot house practice as well as good soil and water usage technologies. Likewise, Israel is held to be role model when it comes to drip irrigation practice, which helps save water considerably. Israel’s example in water saving is worthy of emulation. It is able to produce 647 mango trees on one acre of land whereas TN’s yield is only 40 trees to an acre. Israel also uses water economically, using drip water irrigation over 10 acres of land whereas in TN, the same amount of water is able to irrigate only 6 acres.

Horticulture department officials, speaking to DT exclusively, said the chief minister is keen to select farmers on the basis of merit. They should also set up model farms and spread the message of better farming methods. Preference will be given to those who are educated. Selection will be made to ensure all 32 districts of Tamil Nadu are covered. Once the selection process is over, the farmers will fly out in Jan 2016.