T.N. Agriculture Budget: govt. announces price support scheme for tomatoes, onions; thrust on green manure crops
The Tamil Nadu government, in its Agriculture Budget tabled on Thursday, proposed a price support scheme for tomatoes and onions to bring relief to farmers
The Tamil Nadu government, in its Agriculture Budget tabled on Thursday, proposed a price support scheme for tomatoes and onions to bring relief to farmers during a price crash, while also identifying green manure crops as a thrust area for improving soil fertility and reducing dependence on fertiliser. The price support scheme will be similar to the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) of the Union Government for mangoes, P. Shankar, Agriculture Secretary and Agriculture Production Commissioner, told reporters on Thursday soon after the Budget was presented. While the modalities for the implementation of the scheme were still being worked out, the experience with the MIS for mango would be put to use for this, Dr. Shankar added. In the case of mango, which is a Union government-supported scheme, pulp factories are notified as temporary regulatory markets for a couple of months during the season, he said, adding that transactions are done in the presence of officials from the Horticulture and Revenue departments.
“We are working out whether the government would purchase the crop outright or facilitate sale while paying for the difference between the production cost and the market price,” he noted. The Budget announcement stated a Market Intervention Scheme – Price Stabilisation Revolving Fund (MIS-PSRF) will be created by the Tamil Nadu State Agricultural Marketing Board with a State fund of ₹4.26 crore to protect farmers from price crash of perishables like tomatoes and onions. Yet another thrust area for the government has been to improve soil fertility through green manure plantations, for which the government has allocated ₹63.5 crore. Seeds of Sunn Hemp, Daincha, and Kolinji plants will be distributed to farmers to sow about one lakh acres of land, while another 22,000 acres will be covered by multi-grain crop seeds.
In a little over a month, the crop will ploughed back into the soil to increase its fertility, for which the government will provide a subsidy of ₹3,000 per acre. As part of the Vetri Vaanmagal scheme, the government proposes to train 500 persons, including 100 women, as drone operators to address labour shortage in fertiliser and pesticide spraying, and crop monitoring. The operators will be provided drone pilot license through Remote Pilot Training Organisation of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Half of the trained women would be provided with 50% subsidy to buy drones and will be handheld through the initial phase, Dr. Shankar maintained. For this, the government has allocated ₹2.5 crore. Asked about the impact of Super El Nino on the State’s agriculture, he said that the department was drawing up a district-wise contingency plan to handle rainfall shortage.
The BriefWire