inspecting the paddy crop cultivated under System Rice
Intensification method in Chandirapillai Valasu, near Salem,
on Monday. \u2014

SALEM: A healthy 20 per cent of the State\u2019s total paddy coverage
area of 21.5 lakh hectares has been brought under the System Rice
Intensification (SRI) programme, said Agricultural Minister
Veerapandi S. Arumugam.

After eliciting farmers\u2019 views on the advantages of the SRI scheme
being introduced in the remote Thumbal village falling under the
Upper Vellaru River Water and Land Development Programme of
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Salem district, on Monday, the
Minister while talking to reporters said the coverage under the SRI
during 2006-07, the first year of experimentation was a mere 4,638
hectares. Next year it was increased to 11,320 hectares.