Tamil Nadu - Salem

Agriculture service centres for farmers in all blocks planned

SALEM: The Tamil Nadu Government has come up with a scheme to extend all agriculture and allied services to the farmers under a single roof by establishing agriculture advisory and service centre in all the blocks in the State.

The scheme, aimed at bringing in a major transformation in the agriculture sector, envisages the integration of the services of agricultural consultation, farm equipment service and seed treatment and certification and extend them under the agriculture advisory and service centre.

The centre would supply fertilizers, pesticides, equipment, seeds and other inputs.

Besides, a wide range of services including cultivation, harvesting and marketing advices, seed certification and soil testing would be extended to the farmers, a press release from Collector J. Chandrakumar said.

The Salem district administration has invited proposals to establish such centres under the scheme in all the 20 blocks in the district.

The primary objective of the initiative is to turn the agriculture into an economically viable and profitable venture.

The scientific approach to farming would generate more employment opportunities to the people in the rural areas and augment income from farming.

Apart from the agriculture graduates, those who graduated with related subjects such as horticulture, forestry, agricultural engineering and veterinary sciences are also eligible to establish the centres.

Further the Government had relaxed the rules and announced that retired agriculture scientists, technical officers in the field of agriculture and primary agriculture cooperative banks are also eligible to start these centres.

The Government would provide subsidy based on the investment made for the establishment of these centres to those interested.

More information on agriculture service centers can be obtained from the office of Joint Director of Agriculture, Salem.

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