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Tamil Nadu
Record production of foodgrains, says Minister
“It was achieved despite loss owing to unseasonal rain”
CHENNAI: Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S.Arumugham on Thursday said that the State had set a record by producing 100.88 lakh tonne of foodgrains in the last financial year and had fixed a target of 108 lakh tonnes for the current financial year.
The record production was achieved despite loss owing to unseasonal rain.
In a statement here on Thursday, Mr. Arumugham said last year, per hectare productivity of rice was 3.7 tonnes as against 2.83 tonnes during the previous regime. Due to advanced training, farmers in the current kuruvai were able to produce 10 tonnes of paddy per hectare.
He said to ensure farmers’ welfare, the State had announced an incentive of Rs.150 per tonne for paddy and Rs.222.20 per tonne for sugar, over and above the minimum support prices announced by the Centre.
Crop insurance
Under the crop insurance scheme, the government planned to distribute Rs.267.62 crore to affected farmers as compensation for crop loss.
The scheme was earlier confined to farmers who had availed of bank loans. Now it had been extended to non-loanees.
In the last financial year about 5.5 lakh farmers were enrolled under the scheme, the statement added.
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