A 31 per cent increase is expected in agriculture production this kharif season in Tamil Nadu, compared to last season. The state agriculture department has set a production target of 34.95 million tonnes (mt), compared to 26.64 mt achieved in kharif 2010.
“The area under cultivation in Tamil Nadu is shrinking due to urbanisation. Crop and irrigation intensity are not showing improvement”, said O Panneerselvam, state minister for finance. So, the agriculture department has commenced pre-positioning of all agricultural inputs to meet the demand of farmers and is planning to use technology aggressively and private sector participation to achieve higher production.
The net irrigated area in the state is only 58 per cent and the irrigation intensity has been reducing over the years, he said. There is stagnation in productivity and in production. “We will usher in a second green revolution by addressing the productivity gap and through value addition”.
“The government intends to achieve higher productivity through effective dissemination and adoption of front-end advanced technology, farm-based interventions for mixed farming and by convergence of schemes to ensure integrated farm development”.
The department’s production target of 34.95 mt during the kharif season includes paddy production target of 2.78 mt (as compared to 1.98 mt achieved in kharif 2010), millets 1.11 mt (1.05 mt), pulses 182,500 tonnes (115,800 tonnes), oilseeds 892,500 tonnes (510,400 tonnes), cotton 267,000 tonnes (188,900 tonnes) and sugarcane 29.7 mt (22.78 mt).
The targeted area under production for this kharif is 2.14 million ha, according to the department, as compared to 1.97 million ha last season, an increase of eight per cent.
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On usage of technology, Panneerselvam said, front-end technological interventions like system of rice intensification (SRI), sustainable sugarcane initiatives (SSI) in sugarcane, precision farming and promotion of Bt cotton, adoption of appropriate crop management practices in pulses and oilseeds, protected cultivation and precision faming for vegetables and high density planting for horticultural crops would be aggressively promoted.
During 2011-2012, around 2.22 million acres are to be covered under SRI to enhance paddy productivity. Similarly, 14,000 acres of sugarcane will be brought under SSI cultivation. “We intend to increase it to 245,000 acres in the next two to three years to increase the productivity of sugarcane,” the minister said.
Productivity of pulses will be improved by bringing a larger area under irrigated pure crops, with better management. Precision Farming will be adopted on 22,000 acres at a cost of Rs 20.93 crore and protected cultivation on 400,000 sq meter to increase the productivity of fruits and vegetables.