Imagine a break where you will be waking up with the rooster, trying your hand at milking the cows, feeding the chicken, plucking tender ladys finger from the fields and having lunch under the shade of a canopy of trees. The images in your mind will remain even after you return to the mill and grind of your daily routine. Agrotourism centres give such lasting memories to those who like to be one with nature.
The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) is trying its hand at offering farm tours to visitors in the State. Studying models from other States, it is charting a strategy for the same. Recently, a meeting of various stakeholders was held where different models were discussed. Officials said tourists were evincing interest in learning about rural life. It would be a win-win situation for both the farmers and tourists.
A.P. Arul James Edwin Thambu, founder and secretary, Tamil Nadu Agrotourism Federation, who has been providing training to farmers interested in agrotourism, said visitors have to be able to do something in the farm, to see and learn something and buy something from the farm. “By bringing the profitable tourism and mostly loss-making agriculture together, we can give an authentic feel to the visitors, provide rural employment, and create interest among the youth in agriculture. Italy was the first country to have a policy for agrotourism. In India it was Maharashtra,” he explained.
