Chandrapur to grow fodder around 502 village tanks as drought hits district, targets 3.57 lakh tonnes

Chandrapur district is facing drought this year. In view of this, the district administration has begun large-scale arrangements to ensure there is no shortage of fodder for livestock. Under this, fodder will be cultivated on available and suitable land around 502 tanks in the district.

The administration has identified a total of 502 tank sites for fodder cultivation. On the land around these tanks, fodder will be grown under the Viksit Bharat Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (VB-G RAM G) scheme, with the participation of women's self-help groups. The administration's emphasis is on meeting the needs of livestock while providing employment to women's self-help groups in villages.

Along with fodder production, priority will also be given to saving existing fodder, its storage and proper management.

The Animal Husbandry Department is running several schemes for fodder production. Under the District Annual Plan, 17,114 kg of fodder seed will be distributed to 2,633 beneficiaries. This is expected to yield 1,68,510 metric tonnes of fodder.

Under the Vidarbha-Marathwada Dairy Development Project, 27,877 kg of fodder seed has already been distributed to 2,072 beneficiaries. This is expected to yield 1,88,829 metric tonnes of fodder. Together, the two schemes will benefit 4,708 beneficiaries, and the fodder production target is 3,57,339 metric tonnes.

The Animal Husbandry Department is also running a "fodder literacy campaign" across the district. It began on October 8, 2026, in Bhadravati tehsil. Farmers and livestock keepers are being given demonstrations, training and guidance on topics such as fodder cultivation with less water, azolla production, improving the nutritional value of poor-quality fodder with urea and enzyme treatment, silage making and hydroponic fodder production.

Farmers are being encouraged to take advantage of schemes such as fodder seed at 100 per cent subsidy under the District Annual Plan, supply of supplementary feed for animal breeding under the Vidarbha-Marathwada Dairy Development Project, subsidy for multi-year fodder crops, distribution of electric chaff-cutting machines and distribution of silage. The ATMA department has planned 120 demonstrations on making poor-quality fodder nutritious, at a cost of Rs 2.40 lakh.

In the first phase, the Soil and Water Conservation Department has chosen five tanks in three tehsils of the district for trial fodder cultivation. These include the tanks at Sakharwahi and Waygaon in Chandrapur tehsil, Avalgaon in Brahmapuri tehsil, and Ashti and Katwal Tukum in Bhadravati tehsil.

At these sites, the Panchayat department, Soil and Water Conservation Department, Agriculture Department, Animal Husbandry Department, Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission and Employment Guarantee Scheme department will work together on fodder cultivation. The effort will be to raise local fodder production using the available water sources, while also giving women's self-help groups employment opportunities.