Chennai, Sep 27 (PTI) Tamil Nadu excelled not only in education but also in numerous other fields and the state is a pioneer in agriculture, Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Saturday.
The state made progress in agriculture due to the initiatives of the government and timely discharge of water from the Mettur reservoir to facilitate agricultural activities, he said.
This year, paddy has been cultivated on 5.66 lakh hectares – an additional 1,28,494 acres compared to last year.
“I have written to the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) requesting adequate fertiliser supply to Tamil Nadu, and I have been assured that action will be taken,” he said.
“We are working with dedication to ensure that farmers and agriculture in Tamil Nadu do not suffer in any way,” the chief minister said inaugurating a two-day Agri Business Festival 2025 held under the aegis of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare department at the Chennai Trade Centre, here.
The Agri Business Festival 2025 is a premier platform to showcase innovations, technologies, and opportunities in the agricultural sector. It brings together farmers, agri entrepreneurs, researchers, industries, exporters, and investors to explore partnerships and market linkages.
The stalls put up at the expo showcase agri food processing technologies and a separate pavilion has been established for agri startup ventures for young entrepreneurs.
At the event, Stalin said, “Tamil Nadu excelled not only in education but also in agriculture and various other fields. Many people are praising the excellent initiatives of the state government.” The CM said that through the “Uzhavarai Thedi Velanmai – Uzhavar Nalaththurai” scheme, the government continued to hold camps across villages, meeting farmers in their own places, offering technical advice, and addressing their grievances immediately.
“Due to such proactive steps in the last four years, we have achieved a food grain production of 456.44 lakh metric tonne,” he said.
“I proudly state that three years ago, food grain productivity was 2,835 kg per hectare, and today it has increased to 2,857 kg per hectare,” Stalin said.
Highlighting the achievements during the past four years, he said Tamil Nadu ranked first in India in crop productivity, second in maize, total oilseeds, and sugarcane, and third in millets and groundnut-and steadily moving towards the top rank.
For the holistic growth of every village, the government had launched the “Kalaignar’s All Village Integrated Agricultural Development Scheme” which benefitted 52 lakh people in 10,187 village panchayats in the past four years. “I also proudly state that 47,000 acres of barren land have been brought back under cultivation,” he said.
Under the “Protect Soil Life, Protect Human Life” scheme, 20 lakh farmers have benefitted so far and in the past four years, 130 lakh metric tonne of agricultural produce have been transacted through regulated markets. The crop loan limit has been raised from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
Efforts to obtain Geographical Indication for 33 products were on. The formation of Tamil Nadu Cashew Board to safeguard the welfare of workers in the cashew industry, providing Rs1,630 crore as compensation to 21 lakh farmers for crop losses due to natural calamities, settling Rs 5,720 crore towards insurance claims for 32 lakh farmers under the crop insurance scheme, and opening additional paddy procurement centres besides enhancing state incentives for paddy were also among the numerous achievements, the CM said.
Stating that this Agri-Business Festival was a continuation of these achievements, Stalin said his government would transform farmers into entrepreneurs and nurture them as new exporters. “That is the purpose of this festival. I request all farmers to make full use of it. This Agri-Business Festival will certainly be beneficial to farmers, students, food processors, exporters, and the general public,” he said.
Agriculture Minister M R K Panneerselvam and senior officials participated. PTI JSP KH
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