CHENNAI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be presenting Krishi Karman award for 2017-18 in Oilseeds category to Tamil Nadu on January 3 at a function in Bengaluru. The State is getting this award for the fifth time since 2011. The Krishi Karman Award consists of a trophy, citation and Rs 2 crore. At the function, the PM will also present Agriculture Minister’s Krishi Karman Award for Progressive Farmers to SR Senthilkumar and P Papathi.
The Union Agriculture department, in its communication to State Agriculture Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, has congratulated the State for its dedicated efforts in extending technological inputs and services to farmers that has resulted in this outstanding achievement.
Despite severe drought conditions, due to the consistent efforts, TN achieved 107.133 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains during 2017-18. Particularly, 10.382 lakh metric tonnes of oil seeds have been produced - i.e., the production has gone up per hectare by 2,729 kg. This is double the national average (1,284 kg/hectare).