The Tamil Nadu government will urge the Centre to raise to 10 hectares the ceiling for availing of micro irrigation subsidy, from five hectares currently. It will also seek a reduction in the minimum period to re-avail of subsidy for micro irrigation in the same field from seven years to five years, Agriculture Minister MRK Paneerselvam announced in the Agriculture Budget 2023-24.

In firkas (a group of villages) where underground water has been drawn completely and the water table is fast depleting, the area under cultivation is decreasing. Agriculture has been affected by a water shortage. Hence, steps will be taken to adopt micro irrigation techniques to effectively utilise the groundwater to bring a larger area under cultivation.

Also read: Tamil Nadu to implement five-year millet mission to boost its production and consumption

Rs 744 crore allocated for micro irrigation

The scheme will be implemented in areas where micro irrigation is effective. During the coming year, ₹744 crore will be allocated for implementation of the Micro Irrigation Scheme, of which 60 per cent - ₹450 crore - will be spent to cover 53,400 hectares under micro irrigation in these firkas.

The crop insurance scheme impemented to protect farmers from natural calamities, will be extended with an allocation of ₹2,337 crore towards the state’s share of premium subsidy, the minister said.

Special incentive for cane

The State government will allocate ₹253 crore for a special incentive of ₹195 over and above the Fair and Remunerative Price of ₹2,821 per tonne of cane announced for eligible farmers during the 2022-23 crushing season. This will benefit around 1.5 lakh sugarcane farmers, he said.

In the coming year, kits containing perennial fruit seedlings such as mango, guava, jackfruit, amla, acid lime and custard apple will be distributed to 10 lakh households at an outlay of ₹15 crore.

e-NAM portal

On expanding the electronic National Agriculture Markets (e-NAM), the minister said till date, six lakh farmers have transacted 10 lakh metric tonnes of produce worth ₹1,700 crore through the platform. In the ensuing year, another 30 regulated markets will be integrated in portal at an outlay of ₹9 crore.

Of 284 Regulated Markets in Tamil Nadu, 127 have been integrated under the e-NAM portal, he said.

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