Tamil Nadu Agriculture Budget 2024: Focus on sustainable practices, GI tags for 10 agri products and other highlights

Highlights from the budget

• Recognising the imperative to shift towards sustainable and chemical-free agricultural practices for the wellbeing of society, a new scheme called the ‘Chief Minister’s Mannuyir Kaathu Mannuyir Kaappom Scheme (CM MK MKS) to protect soil fertility with 22 components to be implemented at an outlay of Rs 206 crore in 2024-25.
• Kalaignarin All Village Integrated Agriculture Development Programme, which aims to transform every village into a model of self-sufficiency by focusing on the development of agriculture as the primary occupation and by converting fallow lands into cultivable lands to increase the net cultivable area, to be implemented in 2,482 selected village panchayats at an outlay of Rs 200 crore.
• The minister noted that ‘climate change’ is likely to present significant challenges to biodiversity, crop yields, and food security in the coming two decades and in anticipation, the dissemination of appropriate technologies is crucial to mitigate the effects of climate change and safeguard against losses in crop production. Hence, he said special climate-smart villages will be developed to demonstrate climate change mitigation technologies to farmers and stakeholders, besides spreading awareness. A budget allocation of Rs 1.48 crore to be made for this initiative.
• To enhance soil health and productivity, research on soil microbiome engineering is to be undertaken to develop and evaluate microbial consortia for the decomposition of organic matter, including crop residues, to increase soil carbon and convert unavailable nutrients into available forms. A budget allocation of Rs 1.39 crore is to be made for this.
• To facilitate the easy access of quality agricultural produce and value-added products, to urban consumers, 100 Uzhavar Angadis to be established along the lines of Uzhavar Sandhais at an outlay of Rs 5 crore from the state fund. It was noted that the agricultural produce, adhering to specified quality norms, will be directly procured from farmers, graded, packed, branded and sold through Uzhavar Angadis.
• The One Village – One Crop scheme to be introduced in 15,280 revenue villages to catapult production in rural areas. This initiative is set to feature demonstrations covering land preparation, seed treatment for high-yielding varieties, and integrated nutrient management for a range of crops, including paddy, cholam, ragi, cotton, sugarcane. These demonstrations are set to be conducted over 5 to 10 acres in each village, focusing on one crop per village to enhance farmers’ awareness.
• As part of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), two lakh works, including farm ponds, water recharge shafts, sunken ponds, percolation ponds, recharge wells, new ponds, earthen bunds, stone bunds to be carried out at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore.
• Under the State Agriculture Development Scheme, which aims to propel agriculture towards significant advancement in Tamil Nadu, the government will provide maximum assistance of Rs 1 lakh to 100 graduates who establish any agri-based business by availing bank loans. An amount of Rs 1 crore to be earmarked for this scheme which aims to transform young graduates into agri entrepreneurs.
• The Cotton Cultivation Mission is to be implemented at Rs 14.20 crore in the state this year. It was noted that this further augments cotton production to 5.50 lakh bales.
• Subsidy to be granted for the installation of automated irrigation systems, promoting the precise application of water directly to the plant’s root zone as needed. An allocation of Rs 25 crore to be made for this initiative to benefit 12,000 farmers.
• To promote the cultivation of neem trees, 10 lakh neem tree saplings are to be distributed to farmers at no cost, for which Rs 2 crore will be earmarked under the agroforestry scheme.
• To ensure that agriculture is supplied with enough electricity, 50,000 electricity connections have been provided in the current year.
• Special schemes to be introduced for mukkani (mango, banana, jackfruit) development.
• New horticulture farms and parks like Mullai Garden (In Kanniyakumari), Marutham Park (In Thanjavur), Sun Garden (In Kanniyakumari), Hibiscus Nursery Garden (In Chengalpattu), State Horticulture Farm (In Tenkasi) to be established.
• Private custom hiring centres are being established with subsidy assistance to address the rising demand for agricultural machinery and encourage the use of advanced and high-cost equipment. These centres are touted to benefit farmers, rural entrepreneurs, farmer societies, cooperative societies of farmers and farmer producer organisations (FPOs). As part of this initiative, 207 agricultural machinery custom hiring centres to be established this year with a total subsidy amount of Rs 32.90 crore.
• To create a link between the private agricultural machinery owners and the farmers, ‘Private Agricultural Machinery Custom Hiring Mobile App’ to be developed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.
• To produce and export various value-added products of jackfruit, a value-addition centre with necessary infrastructure facilities is to be established at Panruti at the cost of Rs 16.13 crore from the Union and state government funds.
• Infrastructure in 100 regulated markets to be renovated at a cost of Rs 50 crore.
• Geographical Indication (GI) tag to be obtained for 10 agricultural products, including Sathayamangalam red banana (Erode), Kolli Hills pepper (Namakkal), Meenambur seeraga samba (Ranipet), Ayyampalayam nettai thennai (Dindigul), urigam puli (Krishnagiri), Bhuvanagiri mithi pagarkai (Cuddalore), Sencholam (Salem, Karur), Tirunelveli senna leaf (Tirunelveli), Odaipatti seedless grapes (Theni), Gloriosa superba (Senkanthal seed-Karur, Dindigul, Tiruppur), at a cost of Rs 30 lakh.
• Agri-tech-based startups are to be identified and provided with subsidies based on their objectives, sustainability, and business plans. Rs 10 crore to be allocated from state funds.