SALEM: To place their demands and suggestions for the state’s 2026-27 agriculture budget, farmers from 10 districts participated in a regional consultation meeting in Salem on Thursday. A wide range of issues, ranging from irrigation and crop insurance to mechanization and farm credit, was discussed at the meeting.
The meeting, held at the Salem district collectorate, brought together farmers, representatives of farmers' associations, agriculturalists and officials from Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Kallakurichi and Karur.
The consultation was chaired by Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister R Vinoth, in the presence of Backward Classes Welfare Minister V Sampath Kumar and Handlooms, Textiles and Khadi Minister M Vijay Balaji. MLAs and senior officials also participated.
Addressing the gathering, Vinoth said Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay had directed the department to consult farmers before finalising the 2026-27 agriculture budget so that their recommendations could be incorporated. He said the budget would focus on improving farmers' income, strengthening irrigation, promoting natural farming and expanding farm mechanisation.
Referring to the delayed water release from Mettur Dam due to inadequate storage, he said the state had announced a Rs 135-crore kuruvai package for delta and non-delta districts. He added that the government had also waived crop loans worth around Rs 6,000 crore benefiting 14.43 lakh farmers.
Highlighting the push for mechanisation, he said 16,791 bookings had been made through the Uzhavan mobile application between May 1 and July 1, benefiting 13,234 farmers, and added that the government would strengthen storage and marketing infrastructure to help farmers secure better prices for their produce.
Speaking to reporters later, the minister said several demands raised by farmers during the previous government remained unfulfilled and assured that the present government would examine them for implementation. On the issue of free electricity connections for farmers, he said a consultation meeting had been scheduled this week and that the electricity minister would announce further details.
Dharmapuri MLA Sowmiya Anbumani, who also attended the meeting, said the area under cultivation in Tamil Nadu had declined to around 20 lakh acres this year compared to last year and urged the state government to completely waive cooperative loans of small and marginal farmers. She also called for faster implementation of irrigation and river-linking projects and expressed hope that farmers' recommendations would be reflected in the forthcoming agriculture budget.
