Latest news with #TamilNaduCoconutFarmersAssociation
New Indian Express
7 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Farmers in TN urge dredging of PAP main canal to curb water wastage before release to fourth zone
TIRUPPUR: Farmers in Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts who are benefitting from the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) have urged the Water Resource Department (WRD) to dredge its entire main canal before opening water to the fourth zone to prevent wastage. The 124-kilometre-long main canal starts from the Thirumoorthy Dam located in Udumalaipet in Tiruppur district and ends at Vellakovil on the border of Tiruppur district. About 3.77 lakh acres coming under PAP is divided into four irrigation zones. The fourth zone comprises around 94,000 acres of farmlands from mile 1 to 124 of the main canal. S Paramasivam, Tiruppur District President of Tamil Nadu Coconut Farmers Association, said, "PAP irrigates around 4.25 acres of agricultural land in Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts. Out of which, about 3.77 lakh acres are irrigated by water from the Thirumoorthy Dam." "The main canal has branch and distributary canals extending to more than 1,000 km. Around 75% of the main canal is currently in a damaged state. In addition, in most places, the distributary and branch canals are also in a damaged state. Due to this, water wastage is high. Previously, a round of water would be distributed for only 21 days. Currently, it takes 29 days for one round of water supply due to water wastage," he added.
The Hindu
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Coconut farmers demand integrated pest management to wipe out Whitefly
Members of Tamil Nadu Coconut Farmers Association staged a demonstration demanding an integrated pest management system to eradicate Whitefly pest attack in coconut palms. The association State general secretary, A. Vijayamurugan, said that lot of coconut trees had completely dried up across the State, including Virudhunagar due to the Whitefly attack. 'While many trees have died, lot others have lost their yielding capacity,' he complained. The State Government should come up with an integrated pest management plan to wipe out this pest. Complaining that no proper crop insurance scheme was available for the coconut trees, Mr. Vijayamurugan said that the officials were registering a few of the coconut trees in a farm. 'All the coconut trees should be covered under the crop insurance scheme like being done to other crops,' he said. Similarly, certain conditions for getting subsidy for drip irrigation system were preventing farmers with bigger land holdings from getting assistance from the Government. 'Hence, the full subsidy should be extended to all farmers so that the benefit of the scheme reached all the farmers,' he added. The district secretary of the association, Kalidassan, district secretary of Tamil Nadu Farmers' Association, Murugan, were among those who took part in the protest.
