Stalin launches Kalaignar integrated agriculture program

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday launched Kalaignar All Village Integrated Agriculture Development Program (KAVIADP)

The scheme will initially cover 9 lakh farming families in 1,997 village panchayats and the estimated cost for the project is Rs 227 crore. "KAVIADP will cover all the 12,525 village panchayats in five years", said Stalin, while launching the program.

Stalin also said that the objective of the scheme is to bring fallow lands in rural habitations under cultivation, to diversify water resources and to increase the usage of solar pumps, establishing micro irrigation facilities in all rural areas, to market the farm products by value addition, to establish small water bodies for irrigation and retaining ground water, to increase rural infrastructure, to increase the production of milk through developing the health conditions of cattle, issuing change of patta, e-adangal and certificates for micro and small farmers through Revenue department, issuing more crop loans through cooperative societies, desilting waterways that are used for irrigation and so on.

"The program is to bring economic development to rural areas by integrating the services of all the departments concerned", said the Chief Minister.

Under the scheme, farmers from the 1,997 village panchayats will be coordinated to form farm producer organisations to provide technical training and schemes of various departments will be implemented through the Agriculture department. "As the schemes of the Rural development department will be implemented under the program the villages will become self-sustained following which the migration of people from rural to urban areas can be prevented", said Stalin.

While explaining the reason behind devising the program, Stalin said that one of the seven long-term plans for the development of Tamil Nadu as announced by him is "increasing productivity-happy farmers" and KAVIADP will help attain the goal.