‘Farmers can use unused lands for growing trees’

Seminar on ‘E-Platform for Market Intelligence of Trees’ held at Nagercoil Collectorate. District Collector P. N. Sridhar said it would facilitate virtual meetings of growers & buyers, create awareness of rules & maximize yield. DFO Kanniyakumari, Prof. Varadaraj discussed with farmers, traders & plantation owners. E-service website launched for direct sale of wood & non-wood products.

A seminar on the ‘Development of an E-Platform for Market Intelligence of Trees’ was held at the district Collectorate here on Thursday evening.

 District Collector P. N. Sridhar, who presented an explanatory manual on agro forestry and delivered the keynote address, said the purpose behind conducting this seminar was to sensitize the farmers and owners of hitherto unused lands on growing trees as it would phenomenally augment revenue of the growers. Since the growers had to follow certain rules while cutting trees and selling it to traders, the seminar was being organised, he said.

 Besides creating awareness about the rules to be followed, the seminar would also facilitate a virtual meeting of the growers and the buyers through this proposed e-platform, which would tell the growers and the buyers about the availability of tree saplings or seeds, the places of availability and the price, the techniques to be followed to maximize the yield etc.

 “Besides increasing forest cover of the State, agro forestry will also ensure additional income to the growers, self-help group members going in for value-addition of wood while the traders will get quality timbers at the right price throughout the year,” Mr. Sridhar said.

 District Forest Officer, Kanniyakumari, M. Ilayaraja provided insights into the development of an e-platform for timber market intelligence.

 The event also included discussions with farmers, tree operators, and timber traders regarding the advancement of the e-platform for ‘Timber Market Intelligence’,

 Social Forestry and Extension Division, Tirunelveli, A. Anbu, and Professor from Forest College and Research Institute, Coimbatore, Varadaraj, interacted with the timber plantation owners, traders and the farmers to clarify their doubts on choosing suitable tree crops for diverse types of lands. The seminar highlighted the launch of an e-service website, designed for the direct sale of both wood and non-wood products by manufacturers.