Ooty: The Thengumarahada Coop Farming Society (TCFS), a unique and first of its kind society is a major attraction which after seven decades of its inception stands as a shining example of the collective farming concept.
M. Bojarajan, president of TCFS, said that only after the inception of TCFS in Thengumarahada in August 1948, did this little known village in the foothills of the Kotagiri slopes in the Nilgiris began to hog the limelight as it proved to be a major food crop producer.
"This pioneering farming society came into being when 142 farmers from the Kil-kotagiri area, including some tribals formed the coop farming society and came forward to take up agriculture in the risky and challenging jungle terrain when the country was facing a famine in the late 1940s, and, the then government was encouraging the 'grow more food' concept," he said. Nearly 520 acres of lands amid the jungles was assigned to TCFS by government where each member enjoys around three acres. Till now, only heirs of the 142 families which formed the TCFS then, enjoy membership in TCFS as one membership for one family still continues. "The produce on the TCFS lands are sold through the TCFS. The TCFS is running at a profit," he noted.
"Over the decades, farmhands from nearby areas and districts such as Erode, began to move to Thengumarahada to find jobs as farm labourers on TCFS lands. Over the decades their families too settled down on lands owned by TCFS in Thengumarahada and became permanent residents there. Lack of a bridge and a good road are handicaps for Thengumarahada residents. Recently, the Nilgiris district administration promised to look into the plea of constructing a bridge over the Moyar river to make transport easy. We hope for the best," he added.
