CHENNAI: Ahead of the Tamil Nadu government’s 2025-26 budget, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on Saturday released its annual shadow budget for agriculture, advocating for structural reforms and increased financial support for the sector. The party urged the government to allocate 25% of the total budget exclusively for agriculture.
PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss released the shadow budget which has 240 proposals under 82 categories aimed at addressing critical issues. It proposes forming an expert committee led by a high court judge to address the crop loan burdens and procurement prices of the farmers, besides a new Agricultural Commodities (Price Determination and Procurement) Act to make it mandatory for the government to procure all farm produce.
It proposes to divide the agriculture sector into three ministries - agriculture, horticulture, and agricultural trade and marketing - to ensure focused governance.
The shadow budget proposes forming a dedicated commission to determine the pricing of agricultural produce, reviewing prices of vegetables and fruits every three months, and establishing a separate board to oversee the procurement of agricultural produce. The PMK has also recommended setting up 6,000 procurement centres across the state.
According to the shadow budget document, an irrigation project implementation authority will be created to revitalise irrigation projects.