CHENNAI: Measures to ensure food security, special package to increase paddy area and foodgrain production in 29 non-delta districts at an outlay of Rs 102 crore, thrust to organic farming and horticultural crops, and increasing farm mechanisation were among the highlights of the fifth farm budget presented by Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam on Saturday.
In five years, the total budgetary outlay for agriculture and allied sectors has gone up by nearly Rs.10,000 crore from Rs.34,221 crore in 2021-22 to Rs.45,661 crore in 2025-26, the minister said. While the total gross cropped area has increased from 146.77 lakh acres in 2019-20 to 151 lakh acres in 2023-24, the double-crop areas in the state have risen from 29.74 lakh acres in 2019-20 to 33.60 lakh acres in 2023-24, the budget stated.
Tamil Nadu has also secured the first position in the country in ragi productivity, the second position in maize, oilseeds and sugarcane productivity, and third position in groundnut and minor millets productivity. While allocations have been made for existing schemes, there is no dearth of new schemes in the budget tailored to the needs of the seven distinct agroclimatic zones and the diverse crops cultivated in these regions.
The new schemes include plan to establish 1,000 CM’s Farmers Service Centre, Alternative Crop Cultivation Scheme to improve soil fertility and encourage cultivation of millets, a Village Outreach Campaign to provide technical advice to farmers, Nutrition Farming Mission to increase farmers’ net income through higher production of horticultural crops, and hill farmers development scheme, among others.
In one of the key announcements, the minister said that sugarcane farmers will be paid a special incentive of Rs.349 per metric tonne of sugarcane for the 2024-25 crushing season.
This is over and above the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) fixed by the union government. “This provides Rs.3,500 per MT to benefit 1.30 lakh sugarcane farmers, and Rs.297 crore will be allocated for this,” the minister said. Farmers, however, have been demanding Rs.5,500 per tonne due to increase in production cost.
The minister said the total area under horticulture crops has reached 16.3 lakh hectares in 2023-24, making horticulture a key driver of agricultural growth in Tamil Nadu.
The initiatives to promote organic farming include establishing natural farming clusters, marketing organic and natural farming products, full subsidy for pesticide residue testing to organic farmers, exemption of certification fees for organic farming certification, and setting up Quality Control Laboratories in four places.
The Nutrition Farming Mission aims to boost the income of farmers and to ensure the availability of nutritious vegetables, fruits, pulses, etc, to consumers. Under this scheme, Fruit Plant Kits with three quick-bearing fruits will be given to nine lakh families while Pulses Kits will be distributed to one lakh households at 75% subsidy.
Under the agriculture mechanisation programme, 5,000 agricultural machinery and implements will be distributed in 2,338 villages to benefit 17,000 farmers.