Union Budget 2022: No investment to boost infra leaves TN organic farmers upset

Reacting to the Union Budget, farmers urged the Central government to invest in infrastructure, such as storage facilities, and fix prices for organic products.

Image used for representational purpose. (File Photo | EPS)

CHENNAI: Reacting to the Union Budget, farmers urged the Central government to invest in infrastructure, such as storage facilities, and fix prices for organic products. The demand came after Union Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced Rs 2.73 lakh crore for minimum support price (MSP) and vowed to promote organic farming.

Farmers pointed out the infrastructure to store vegetables and fruits is poor in TN’s rural and urban areas. Explaining this, Vivasaya Munnetra Kazhagam State general secretary K Balasubramani said while tapioca is cultivated on over 1.5 lakh hectares in the State, next only to paddy, it is difficult to store them due to poor infrastructure.

“Though the FM announced Rs 2.73 lakh crore for MSP, she didn’t promise anything for organic farmers. Production costs for organic farming are double than normal farming, but their market prices are the same,” Balasubramani said.

Organic farmer P Saravanan, meanwhile, welcomed the Kissan drone scheme — under which the FM said drones will be used for crop assessment, and digitisation of land records, and spraying of insecticides — but said the Centre must clarify how it will be implemented.

“The FM promised to promote chemical-free natural farming across India. The announcement is appreciated, but they have hardly followed through on existing schemes. Under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana scheme, organic farmers are to get Rs 50,000 for three years.

I have been practising traditional farming since 2006, and also have a certificate, but didn’t get any assistance,” he said. Consortium of Indian Farmers Association’s State technical secretary G Ajithan said, the FM promised support for millet cultivation as 2023 has been announced as International Year of Millets.

AIADMK has mixed views
Though AIADMK, the NDA’s major partner in the State, welcomed the Budget, it expressed disappointment with certain aspects. Former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami, on behalf of the AIADMK, said the targets of procuring 1,000 lakh metric tonnes of paddy and allocating Rs 2.70 lakh crore for MSP would encourage the farm sector. He welcomed the allocation of Rs 60,000 crore to provide drinking water connections to 3.80 crore houses