The Hindu Business Line : TN to hike spending on farm mechanisation

Coimbatore, June 25 The Tamil Nadu Government is planning to import sugar-cane harvesting machines and is holding talks with Chinese machinery companies in this regard.

The State Government would also increase four-fold its spending on new farm equipment and implements this year, according to the Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister, Mr Veerapandi S. Arumugam.

The State Government in phase-I has decided to provide two sugarcane harvesting machines each for all the 17 cooperative/public sector sugar mills in the State to enable them overcome the farm labour shortage, the Minister said.

Stating that he and his Ministry officials recently visited Thailand, Japan and China to study the agri sector in those countries, the Minister said that they were impressed by the suitability of sugarcane cutting machinery made in China.

Chinese producers are also willing to modify the equipment to suit the needs here as it was pointed out that unlike the upright growth of sugarcane plants in that country, the crop in large tracts in India tend to grow in a slanted manner, posing problems for mechanised harvesting. Chinese makers have also offered to upgrade the power of the machines from 80 HP to 180HP.

The Minister who was addressing at the annual ‘farmers day’ celebrations organised at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) after releasing the new crop varieties and farm equipment by the TNAU said the State Government would spend Rs 25 crore on purchase of new farm implements for 2008-09 as against Rs 5.9 crore in the previous year.

Tamil Nadu has targeted a food production of 108 lakh tonnes (at an increased productivity of 2,571 kg a hectare) from crop area of 42 lakh hectares during 2008-09 against 100.35 lakh tonnes (at the same crop area but at a per hectare productivity of 2,389 kg) realised in 2007-08.

The State has also proposed to increase area under the model intensification of rice cultivation programme from 11,320 hectares to 7.5 lakh hectares in the current year. Mr Arumugam also disclosed the State Government’s decision to invest Rs 925 crore to implement cogeneration at all the 17 cooperative sugar plants to help them to curtail losses. The cumulative losses from these units is estimated at Rs 300 crore and one way of bringing down the losses is through enabling these plants to go in for cogeneration and ethanol/spirit manufacture. In cases of units lacking bagasse as feedstock for cogeneration, the Government has decided to allow them to use coal, the Minister added.

Earlier the Agriculture Minister formally released eight crop varieties, four farm implements and five management technologies evolved by the university for the benefit of the farming community.

More Stories on : Sugar | Agricultural Institutions | Policy | Tamil Nadu

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