The Tamil Nadu government will soon introduce a portal ‘Tamil Man Valam’ to facilitate farmers know the soil fertility status, obtain soil health card and implement schemes for paddy, millet, pulses and oilseeds to increase the foodgrain production.
This was announced during the Foodpro 2022 event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Saturday.
Delivering the special address at the event, Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam said the state government is making efforts to get a fair price for farmers’ r produce and would implement various schemes to enhance their income.
“This can only be possible with more food processing parks and units coming up inside the State. There is an increase in the total cultivated area in Tamil Nadu from 60 per cent to 75 per cent or 116.63 lakh acres of cultivable land. Tamil Nadu is the only state in the country to have a separate agriculture budget and in its second agri budget, the focus was on digital agriculture and emerging technologies aimed at helping them grow and earn more money,” he added.
In his special address, the Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) TM Anbarasan, said, “Out of the total number of MSMEs registered in India, Tamil Nadu accounts for 15 per cent, ranking third in the segment, producing over 8,000 products. To promote food processing, in the last financial year, about 227 food processing units in the State were given incentives worth ₹ 28.18 crore and ₹112.72 crore worth of loans sanctioned.”
C Samayamoorthy, Agricultural Production Commissioner & Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department said, “A separate food processing and agri exports department would be set up by the government to help enhance the growth of agri exports from the State.”