Tamil Nadu: 2,000 tonnes of seeds of the best paddy varieties will be given to farmers

CHENNAI: Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam on Saturday announced that to encourage cultivation of high-yielding superfine varieties of paddy, a total of 2,000 tonne certified seeds will be supplied to farmers with 50% subsidy and for this purpose Rs 8.6 crore will allocated. The minister made this announcement while replying to the discussion on demands for grants for his department.

Panneerselvam also announced that an export consultancy cell will be established in all districts to help farmers easily understand export procedures for agricultural produce. Growing of nutrient-rich edible mushrooms such as white button mushroom, milky mushroom and oyster mushroom will be notified as an agricultural activity in Tamil Nadu.

Explaining the achievements of the government in the past three years, Panneerselvam said 371 announcements worth Rs 27,000 crore were made and 2.59 crore farmers had benefitted from them. The government has provided Rs 19,761 crore as subsidy to ensure 23.8 lakh free power connections.

A special scheme for increasing area and production of maize is planned on an outlay of Rs 30 crore covering 18 districts. Panneerselvam said to regulate vegetable prices during summer by increasing the supply, cultivation of vegetables including brinjal, tomato, capsicum, greens, etc, under shadenet will be encouraged in many districts.