State to distribute PDAs to agriculture department
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In an effort to collect accurate data, particularly to record biometric observations for effective management of crop and food-grain productivity, the state government has proposed to distribute Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to Agriculture department officials in four districts in the state.
“PDAs are being distributed to collect detailed data at the field level and to inform about the availability of inputs like seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, bio-pesticides etc., besides for recording biometric observations of crops at critical stages to arrive at estimated yields,” an official said.
This will also aid in settling individual issues like insurance, management of pests and disease outbreaks and ensuring linkages for marketing harvested crops.
During the 2011-12 fiscal, PDAs were distributed to 227 extension functionaries at 20 blocks in Vellore and 11 blocks in Virudhunagar districts at a cost of Rs 34.05 lakh.
This fiscal, 430 PDAs will be distributed to extension functionaries of Trichy, Erode, Thiruvarur and Coimbatore districts at a cost of Rs 86 lakh.
Also on the cards are “Farmers’ Hubs” that will be set up in the districts of Coimbatore, Dindigul, Erode, Kancheepuram, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Tiruchy, Thoothukudi and Virudhunagar at a cost of Rs 1,497 lakhs.
These hubs will serve as platforms for disseminating information between farmers, extension functionaries and will also serve as a means to resolve practical issues related to agriculture and allied departments under one umbrella.
Touch-screen kiosks costing Rs 81.25 lakh will be established at block and sub-block levels at 125 places in Tiruchy, Erode, Thiruvarur and Coimbatore districts to enable farmers to access information on weather, input availability, farm-based interventions, market intelligence and government schemes.
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