Farmers Training (Tamil Nadu)

What is the Farmers Training scheme?

Farmers Training is the extension and capacity-building arm of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu. Rather than paying a subsidy on an input, it funds the classroom and field sessions through which farmers learn a new practice. A crop-specific package, integrated pest management, soil health management, seed production discipline, organic methods or farm mechanisation.

According to the department's published scheme tables, the cluster component provides that "50 farmers / agricultural labourers will be trained in a cluster with the financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per training." The same tables carry the item repeatedly across crop programmes, so a farmer may encounter it as "Farmers Training @ Rs.5000 per training of 50 farmers" under a pulses, oilseeds or millets programme, and as "Training to Farmers 50 farmers per batch, Rs 300 per farmer for 2 days" under contract-farming components.

Separately, the department's citizen charter sets out the Farmers Training Centre (FTC) programme, which is the older and more structured route. Under it, the department pays a stipend of Rs 50 per day per person for two days of village-based training for men and women, the same rate for training Farmers Discussion Group convenors, Rs 50 per demonstration for peripatetic and method demonstrations, Rs 4,000 towards a study tour for 50 members a year, and prizes worth Rs 3,000 for 15 farmers on Farmers' Day.

Farmers searching in Tamil will find the training centres referred to as uzhavar payirchi maiyam.

Key facts

• Cluster training: Rs 5,000 per training, batch of 50 farmers or agricultural labourers.
• Integrated Pest Management Farmers Field School: 30 farmers per training, with a lump provision of Rs 17,000 covering demonstration and training.
• Village-based FTC training: Rs 50 per day per person for two days.
• Study tour: Rs 4,000 for 50 members per year.
• SC/ST flow: 20 per cent under the FTC components, 30 per cent under several crop-programme components.
• Cost to the farmer: nil.

Who is eligible for farmer training in Tamil Nadu?

You can enrol if:

• You are a farmer cultivating land in Tamil Nadu, whether as owner or tenant.
• You are an agricultural labourer, since the cluster component explicitly covers agricultural labourers alongside farmers.
• You are a member of a Farmers Interest Group, a farm women's group or a Farmers Discussion Group, which are given preference when batches are made up.
• You are a woman farmer, in particular a small or marginal woman farmer, who is given stated preference under the crop-programme components.
• You belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, for whom the department reserves a flow of 20 to 30 per cent of places depending on the component.

You cannot enrol, or are not eligible, if:

• You live outside Tamil Nadu, since the batches are made up from the cluster villages selected by the district.
• Your district is excluded from the particular component. The Agriculture Department's own tables carry district exclusions; for example, one cluster component operates in all districts "except Chennai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai and The Nilgiris districts where National Food Security Mission is under implementation," and the FTC component lists its own set of excluded districts. Farmers in an excluded district are covered by the parallel national scheme instead, not left out altogether.
• You are seeking a cash benefit rather than training. This is not an income support scheme; the stipend is a small attendance allowance, not a subsidy.
• The batch is already full. Batches are capped at 50 participants, or 30 for a Farmers Field School, so enrolment closes when the number is reached.
• You are looking for a certificate course or a diploma. Departmental training is short-form, one or two days for village-based training, and does not confer a formal qualification.

What does the training cover?

The subject depends on which programme funds the batch, but Tamil Nadu's extension calendar typically covers:

• Crop production packages for paddy, millets, pulses, oilseeds, cotton and sugarcane, timed to the season.
• Integrated Pest Management, delivered as a Farmers Field School with 30 farmers per training and a lump provision of Rs 17,000 that covers a 40-hectare demonstration alongside the classroom work.
• Balanced and integrated use of fertilisers, including soil health card interpretation.
• Seed production discipline for farmers enrolling under the seed multiplication programme, where a training at the beginning of each year is a condition of registration.
• Organic farming and group formation, funded in some components at Rs 20,000 per training.
• Farm mechanisation and micro-irrigation operation and maintenance.

The Rs 5,000 per batch is spent on the resource person, training material, participants' transport and refreshments. It is not distributed among the farmers as cash.

How to enrol for farmers training

1. Contact the Assistant Agricultural Officer in your village, or visit the nearest Agricultural Extension Centre, and ask which training batches are planned for the coming season in your cluster.
2. Give your name for enrolment, along with your village, survey number if you hold land, and your mobile number. Bring your Aadhaar card for identity.
3. State your category if you belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, or if you are a woman farmer or a member of a Farmers Interest Group, so that you are counted against the earmarked flow and the preference.
4. Confirm the date and venue when the batch is finalised. Village-based training is usually held in the village itself; Farmers Field Schools are held at the demonstration plot.
5. Attend both days of the training, and sign the attendance register. The stipend under the FTC component is paid against attendance, so an unsigned register means no payment.
6. Give your bank account details to the Agricultural Officer where a stipend or tour assistance is payable, so the amount can be transferred.

There is no online enrolment portal for departmental farmer training. The department's TNAGRISNET site carries scheme information and farmer services, and Krishi Vigyan Kendras run by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University publish their own one- and two-day course calendars separately, which farmers may also join.

Who runs the training, and who to contact

• Village level: Assistant Agricultural Officer, who compiles the list of participants for the cluster.
• Block level, Agricultural Officer, Deputy Agricultural Officer and the Assistant Director of Agriculture, who organise the batch.
• District level: Deputy Director of Agriculture (Farmers Training Centre) and the Agricultural Officer of the Farmers Training Centre, who run the FTC programme, and the Joint Director of Agriculture, who holds the district allocation.
• State level — Director of Agriculture, Chennai.

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University also operates Krishi Vigyan Kendras in the districts and an Information and Training Centre at Chennai which conduct one- and two-day trainings on named subjects. Those courses carry their own fee structure and are separate from the free departmental training described here.

What documents do you need?

Because the training is free and the stipend small, the documentation burden is deliberately light. Do not let a missing land record stop you from enrolling in a cluster training, since agricultural labourers are covered on the same terms.

Common problems, and how to deal with them

• No batch announced in your village. Cluster selection is made at block level. Ask the Assistant Director of Agriculture to include your village in the next cluster, ideally as a group request from a Farmers Interest Group rather than as one individual.
• Batch full. Ask to be listed for the next batch in writing, since the officer maintains a running list.
• Stipend not received after attending. Check that you signed the attendance register and that the bank account details you gave are correct. Follow up with the Agricultural Officer of the Farmers Training Centre.
• Your district is excluded from a component. Ask which parallel programme covers your district; in most excluded districts the National Food Security Mission runs the equivalent training.
• Someone asks for a fee. No fee is payable for departmental training. Report the demand to the Assistant Director of Agriculture.

Help and grievance redressal

• Agricultural Extension Centre in your block: enrolment and schedules.
• Deputy Director of Agriculture (Farmers Training Centre) in your district. The FTC programme, stipends and study tours.
• Joint Director of Agriculture, district level, escalation.
• TNAGRISNET: tnagrisnet.tn.gov.in for departmental scheme information.
• e-Sevai helpline: 1800 425 6000 for supporting certificates.
• Chief Minister's Special Cell: cmhelpline.tn.gov.in.

Farmers Training is free to attend. No officer or trainer may charge a participation fee, and any stipend due is paid by bank transfer, never in cash against a signature alone.

How to check your application status

Farmers Training has no online enrolment portal and no application-tracking number, so there is nothing to look up on a website. Status has to be confirmed the same offline way the enrolment itself was done, at three different points in the process.

1. Confirming you are on the batch list. After giving your name to the Assistant Agricultural Officer, ask which cluster or FTC batch you have been placed in and the tentative date. The officer keeps the running participant list for the block; there is no separate acknowledgement slip or SMS confirmation issued.
2. Confirming the batch is going ahead. Batches depend on the crop season and the district allocation reaching the block, so a date given verbally can shift. Check with the Agricultural Extension Centre a few days before the expected date rather than assuming it is fixed once announced.
3. Confirming stipend or tour-assistance payment. Where a stipend, study tour amount or Farmers' Day prize is due, the department pays it by bank transfer against the signed attendance register, not on the spot. Ask the Deputy Director of Agriculture (Farmers Training Centre) in your district, or the Agricultural Officer at the FTC, how long transfers are taking for the batch you attended, and quote your village, the training date and your bank account so the payment can be traced against the register.

If a batch, a placement or a payment cannot be confirmed at the block or FTC level, the Joint Director of Agriculture at district level holds the allocation records and can check further. Keep the enrolment date, the name of the officer you registered with and the village or cluster name on hand before you call or visit, since there is no ticket or reference ID to quote in place of these details.