CHENNAI: The first ever exclusive budget for agriculture in Tamil Nadu will give a big boost to the farm sector in its entirety, including its allied sectors. With this, the DMK has fulfilled yet another electoral promise made to the people during the campaign for Assembly elections.
Rolling out visionary goals for overall development of the farm sector which includes achieving food security and nutritional security in the next 10 years, the budget laid special focus on the need for popularising organic farming in the State.
A grand project called 'Kalaignar All Villages Integrated Agriculture Growth' scheme will be implemented in a span of five years to ensure overall agricultural development and self sufficiency in all the villages of Tamil Nadu. The scheme will be implemented in 2,500 Village Panchayats in the current year i.e. 2021-22. In addition, schemes of agriculture and allied departments will be dovetailed with it.
Another important scheme announced in the agriculture budget is to train agriculture graduates as agriculture entrepreneurs. For this, capacity-building training will be imparted to students during their graduation with the help of agri business firms and alumni.
Further, steps will be taken to find out ways and means for preparation of organic manures, growing tree seedlings, nursery gardening, mushroom cultivation, construction of polygreen houses, distribution of fertilisers and pesticides, establishment of agri clinic, micro-irrigation service centres and product export etc.
The agriculture budget also rolled out a 16-point strategy to ensure growth of agriculture in the State. This multi-pronged strategy includes creating agricultural clusters at village level, dryland development, development of fallow land, strengthening rainwater harvesting structures to increase the area under irrigation and promotion of collective farming.