Pulse self-sufficiency scheme launched in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu government has launched ‘Pulse Self-Reliance Movement’, taking an important initiative in the field of agriculture and farmer welfare. The objective of this scheme is to increase the production of pulses like urad, moong, masoor and karmani in the state and make farmers self-reliant. Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister R. Giving information about this scheme on Wednesday, Vinod said that primary agricultural cooperative societies, producer organizations and individual farmers can get a maximum subsidy of Rs 25 lakh for setting up pulse processing plants.
The minister said that this scheme is being implemented from 2025-26 and the Central and State Governments will cooperate in this through the Agriculture Department. Under the scheme, 33 percent of the plant cost will be provided as subsidy to farmers and producer organizations for setting up pulse processing plants, limited to a maximum of Rs 25 lakh. This will help farmers in pulses production as well as its processing and marketing.
The minister also said that this scheme will increase the production capacity of pulses in the state, strengthen the value chain and increase the income of farmers. The objective of the scheme is not only to increase production but also to make farmers self-reliant in processing and marketing. This initiative will directly benefit local farmers, cooperative societies and producer organizations and will also increase the export of pulses.
Interested and motivated farmers, producer organizations, cluster-level unions and primary agricultural cooperative societies from a total of 37 districts of Tamil Nadu can avail benefits under this scheme. These include Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Karur, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, Tirupathur, Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Trichy, Ariyalur, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur, Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Thoothukudi districts are included.
Agricultural experts believe that this initiative will improve the cultivation and processing of pulses in the state, which will stabilize the income of farmers. Apart from this, setting up processing units at the local level will also increase employment opportunities and stabilize the prices of pulses.
Under this scheme, farmers setting up plants will also be provided technical and financial guidance by the Agriculture Department. The beneficiaries of the scheme will also be given information related to production, processing and marketing so that they can become completely self-reliant and can produce products as per the market requirements.
Minister R. Vinod appealed to the farmers and cooperative societies to participate in the scheme and promote pulse production and processing in their districts. He said that the state government wants to bring new energy in the agriculture sector through this initiative and make the farmers self-reliant by providing them modern technology and financial assistance.
