CHENNAI : Agriculture department officials credit adoption of micro-irrigation technology for helping Tamil Nadu achieve the target of 100 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrain production in 2017-18, despite scarcity of water in several areas. According to V Dakshinamoorthy, Director of Agriculture,
“The technology of micro-irrigation was of much help in judicious utilisation of the available water in many places of the State.
“We earmarked ` 800 crore for s
ubsidising the farmers who had opted for micro-irrigation.”Drip, sprinkler and rain guns are part of the micro-irrigation technology, in which the farmers have begun to show interest because it saves water, besides increasing productivity.
However, the overall productivity took a beating due to unavailability of adequate water as the yield of rice per hectare dropped to 3,544 kg. On earlier seasons, the yield had risen to 4,429 kg per hectare. However, officials could draw consolation from the fact that the average yield in Tamil Nadu is second only to Punjab in the country.