Chennai, Aug 10 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday announced a steep raise in procurement incentives for paddy and sugarcane farmers in the state.
The government made this decision despite the state’s financial position being not good at present, he said.
“We have decided to increase the state incentive for paddy and sugarcane to an unprecedented level in the history of Tamil Nadu, considering that the welfare of the farmers who cultivate paddy and sugarcane, needs to be protected,” Vijay said.
With the paddy procurement season beginning on September 1, along with the minimum support price, the state government’s incentive will be increased to Rs 289 per quintal for fine grade paddy variety and Rs 159 per quintal for common grade paddy, with the procurement price at Rs 2,750 and Rs 2,600 per quintal, respectively.
Similarly, the incentive for sugarcane will be increased by Rs 709 per tonne, taking the total procurement price to Rs 4,000 per tonne, Vijay said making an announcement under Rule 110 in the Assembly.
“This is the first time in history that the state government has increased the incentive for paddy by more than Rs 156 in a year,” he said.
The Centre has fixed Rs 3,290.50 per metric tonne for farmers who register with the sugar mills and supply sugarcane in the 2025-26 milling year. The Tamil Nadu government will provide a special incentive of Rs 709.5 per tonne.
In the last five years, the special incentive for sugarcane was increased by only Rs 156 and now it has been hiked by Rs 360.5 in the first year itself.
The chief minister assured that the state government will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in supporting their endeavours in agriculture and rural livelihood. PTI JSP JSP KH
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