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.
Shammy Jacob and his wife Charlotte Vant Klooster, who started their farm in 2016 at Thalambur, off OMR near Chennai, said their objective was to expose their children to live one with nature when they moved back from The Netherlands. “We planted trees and then the farm started telling us what to do. We brought in cows, chicken and ducks and designed our farm around our house. Since we had additional rooms, we opened them up to people who wanted to enjoy farm life. Technology has a big deal to play in our farm becoming a tourism space. The AirBnB platform helped us as marketing was taken care of. We provide people space to have picnics beneath the trees and also have a shop selling our produce,” explained Mr. Jacob.
C. Samayamoorthy, Commissioner of Tourism, said a policy was under preparation for agrotourism in the State. “This is one more offering that we are preparing for our guests. There is a lot of interest in Tamil Nadu, which is evident from the rising numbers of tourists, both foreign and domestic to the State. Agrotourism is already being offered at a small scale in some places, we want to enlarge the scope,” he said.
