The Tamil Nadu government has fixed a production target of 120 lakh tonnes for food grains this year, said S.Damodaran, Agriculture Minister, here on Thursday.
Talking to reporters after inspecting the planting of paddy seedlings using transplanters at Ramanathapuram panchayat in Thanjavur taluk, the Minister said that the government was providing thrust to mechanisation in agriculture.
“Transplanters help in planting seedlings with proper spacing which in turn will result in good yield. They also help farmers to overcome labour shortage,” the Minister said. Mr.Damodaran tried his hand at the transplanter by planting seedlings.
Fifty per cent subsidy is given to farmers for purchasing transplanters, he said.
The minister also inspected preparation of paddy seedlings using mats under System of Rice Intensification scheme and levelling of land using laser levellers.
MLAs M.Rangasamy, M.Rathnasamy , and Durai Kannu, Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Agriculture Sandeep Saxena, and Director of Agriculture M.Rajendran were present.
