National agriculturists conclave from February 16

Tiruchirapalli, Jan 3: A three-day National Agriculturists Conclave will be held at Erode from February 16, said S Nallasamy Secretary of Federation of Tamil Nadu Agriculturists Association.

Talking to newspersons here yesterday, he said over 6,000 farmers from various parts of the country would attend the conference and putforth their demands, including formation of national and state agriculture policies.

Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala and Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar will participate in the Conclave.

He urged the Tamil Nadu Government to lift the ban on toddy tapping and to exempt it from the list of Indian Made-Foreign liquor (IMFL), as it was done by other states like Karnataka.

Infact, the Karnataka Government had sanctioned Rs five crore for conducting researches to convert toddy as value added product.

UNI