Soil Nourishment, Self-Sustainability, Making Farming Appealing to All

 Chennai: Giving special emphasis on nourishing the soil by implementing a new scheme titled ‘CM’s Mannyuir Kaathu, Manyuir Kapoom’ (Protect the lives on earth by saving the soil’s nourishment) at a cost of Rs 206 crore and making efforts to achieve self-sustainability in food production are among the plethora of initiatives proposed in the State government’s Agriculture Budget for 2024-25.

Presenting the exclusive budget for agriculture for the fourth consecutive year on Tuesday, State Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare M R K Panneerselvam said that Rs 42.281 crore would be allocated for agriculture and its development with special emphasis on encouraging organic farming, promoting traditional crops and increasing the use of green fertilizers.

Drawing a lesson from the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war, the government had felt the need for self-sustainability in grain production, he said, adding that while strides had been made in meeting the paddy demands of the State, there was a shortfall in the production of pulses and oilseeds that stood at 4.85 lakh metric tonnes against the demand of 18.45 lakh metric tonnes.

The budget envisaged not just increasing the area of production of pulses and oilseeds alone to match the need but that of all crops and plants, including Roses in Udhagamandalam, by promoting Agriculture and Horticulture as viable vocations through the provision of the necessary support and encouragement with a view to drawing people outside the farming sector into it through several innovative initiatives.

Apart from making efforts to nourish the soil, through the CM’s flagship programme, Mannyuir Kaathu, Manyuir Kapoom,’ with 22 components that primary aimed at striking a balance between organic carbon and essential nutrients in the soil to foster the growth of beneficial microorganisms, it aspires to produce nutrients-rich agricultural products, encourage cultivation of traditional crops and create more marketing opportunities for farmers.

Several measures like setting up farmers’ markets, online trading facilities, finding avenues for exporting farm based products and obtaining Geographical Indication for products that are quintessentially Tamil Nadu are also planned. An allocation of Rs 30 lakh had been made to get GI status for Sathyamangalam red plantain, Kollimalai chili, Meenambur Seeraga (cumin) Samba rice, Panneerselvam said.

The comprehensive budget that has made proposals for the sugar department, horticulture, agricultural engineering department, agricultural marketing and seed certification besides agriculture lays emphasis on increasing food production by quoting renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan: ‘The future belongs to nations with Grains and not Guns.’

To increase food production, it has come up with proposals to increase the cultivation area, ensure farmers’ welfare, innovation in farming, strengthening water resources, studious water management, creating agriculture entrepreneurs, encouraging agricultural industries and mechanization.

Apart from that, the budget talks about steps to be taken to ensure a continuous income for farmers, popularizing agriculture by setting up parks and organizing exhibitions, providing scope for giving value addition to agricultural products and giving more importance to agricultural research.

Offering incentives to alternate crop patterns, setting up village agriculture development committees in 2482 panchayats, at a cost of Rs 2.48 crore, to increase production, a Rs one lakh incentive to graduates who take up agriculture as a vocation, introducing a ‘one village one crop’ scheme in 15,280 revenue villages where the cultivation of the crop would be monitored from the sowing stage to its harvest are some of the specific schemes.

Panneerselvam said that the initiatives rolled out in the last three budgets had been executed with diligence and long-term projects were being keenly supervised and the fourth budget was a mature iteration of the initial vision, now fortified with essential ingredients for sustainable growth and resilience.