The Tamil Nadu government has targeted a total foodgrain production of 110 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2018-19 spread across rice, millets and pulses, according to the official policy note.
This is in line with that of last year when the foodgrain output was about 109.37 lt.
Foodgrain output ranges around this level when the monsoons are in the normal range. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted the South West Monsoon to be normal for the entire country.
It estimates rice production at 69.5 lt as compared with last year’s 65.92 lt; millets at 34 lt (37.36 lt); and pulses at 6.50 lt (6.09 lt). The State has fully recovered from the damage wrought by the drought when food grain production was halved to about 52 lt.
The total area under foodgrains ranges around 37 lakh ha with nearly half the area devoted to paddy, about 18.50 lakh ha.
The State government is keen on expanding the area under millets such as maize, sorghum, cumbu (pearl millet) , ragi (finger millet), thinai (foxtail millet), varagu (kodo millet), samai (little millet) and kudiraivali (barnyard millet). Over the last two years the area under millets has expanded from about 8 lakh ha to 9.17 lakh ha. Apart from traditional cultivation, the Agriculture Department is also encouraging millet cultivation as an intercrop with pulses, the note said.
In 2018-19 the emphasis on millets production will be enhanced with the focus split between maize on the one hand and a submission on nutri-cereals covering the other millets.