CHENNAI: The TVK govt’s first agricultural budget on Thursday set the goal of increasing Tamil Nadu’s annual foodgrain production from the present 121 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) to 131 LMT over the next five years. To achieve this, the govt plans to bring 52,600 acres more under irrigation through use of technology and conservation of water resources. TN now has 95 lakh acres of irrigated agricultural land.In the state budget presented in the assembly on Wednesday, finance minister N Marie Wilson allocated Rs 14,694 crore for agriculture, which is Rs 470 crore less than the allocation (Rs 15,167 crore) made by the previous govt in its interim budget.Presenting the agriculture budget on Thursday, minister R Vinoth said the state aims at producing 125 LMT of grain this year before scaling it up to 131 LMT by 2031. “Increasing the state’s irrigated footprint is this govt’s prime vision,” said the minister, who was clad in a green shirt.To boost modernization of agriculture, the govt plans to set up an AI-based Agriculture Intelligence and Marketing Excellence Centre (AIMEC). Allotting Rs 227 crore for farm mechanization, the minister said the govt would set up a centre for organic farming to be named after green crusader G Nammalvar.Vinoth said the agriculture budget was guided by the chief minister’s principle that “before a govt becomes a superpower, it must first become a govt for farmers”. He said the budget focused on expanding irrigation, promoting technology-driven farming and building climate-resilient agriculture to improve productivity and strengthen food security.To improve irrigation efficiency, the govt plans to bring an additional 50,000 acres under micro-irrigation and expand irrigation facilities to cover another 2,600 acres of rainfed land. Water resources department will take up 1,161 desilting works covering 5,955km of rivers, canals and other water bodies at Rs 125 crore. Also in the pipeline are farm ponds in 500 fields, open wells and tubewells, besides incentives for farmers to install solar-powered pumps.The govt will take up agro-forestry to restore cultivation on 12,500 acres of fallow land. To improve crop yields by up to 25%, it has allocated Rs 250 crore to procure 43,400 metric tonnes of certified seeds for paddy, millets, pulses, oil seeds and cotton.Vinoth announced a five-year mission to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses and edible oil seeds. The mission, with an allocation of Rs 203.64 crore shared by the state and Union govts, aims at expanding the cultivation area under black gram, red gram and cow pea from 15.19 lakh acres to 24.7 lakh acres. The govt expects the initiative to nearly double pulses production from 3.88 lakh metric tonnes to 7.72 lakh metric tonnes.
