Cluster of dryland farmers benefit from common borewells at Neikuppai village

TIRUCHI

A group of about 22 farmers organised as L. Neikuppai Manavaari Grama Vivasayigal Kuzhu (Neikuppai Dryland Village Farmers Group) would soon be able to take up cultivation on about 20 acres of dryland in the village, thanks to a couple of deep borewells sunk under the Kalaignarin All Village Integrated Agriculture Development Programme.

The programme has been implemented through a convergence of various government departments and schemes. On Thursday, the second borewell to provide the water source for cultivation was successfully sunk by the Department of Agricultural Engineering in a piece of common land assigned to the Agriculture Department by one of the farmers.

A common pump house, through which the lands of the farmers in the group would be irrigated, would be established and energised shortly. Micro irrigation systems are also planned to be erected, sources in the Agriculture Department said.

A farm pond has already been dug in the adjacent field to harvest rainwater and recharge the borewells. The farmers were also given subsidy for bush clearance work in the lands that had remained fallow for several years. The farmers are set to begin ploughing and would be provided seed subsidy too, an official of the department said. Farmers in the group are planning to raise red gram, gingelly, guava and acid lime, he added.

District Collector M. Pradeep Kumar inspected the sinking of borewells and the farm pond on Thursday.