The State government would prepare the agriculture budget by keeping in mind the long-term needs, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare M.R.K. Panneerselvam said here on Wednesday.
At a meeting held at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to collect farmers’ inputs and suggestions, he said the agri budget, first for the State, had raised everybody’s expectation. It was to fulfil those expectation that the Government was obtaining farmers’ inputs and suggestions.
After collecting all the suggestions, the Government would prepare the budget in such a way that it reflected the farmers’ demands and the Chief Minister’s long-term vision for the State.
Agriculture Department Secretary and Agriculture Production Commissioner C. Samayamoorthy said the Government, apart from taking farmers’ inputs, had also invited suggestions from experts across the world.
It would hold brainstorming sessions with the experts to draft the budget, which would cover agriculture, horticulture, agriculture engineering and marketing. The Government was also taking inputs from farmers through the ‘Uzhavan’ mobile application, he said and added that thus far it had received around 2,000 inputs.
‘Medical’ Paramasivam, who represented the farmers in Parambikulam Aliyar Project area sought continuous supply of three-phase power to farmers for agriculture. He drew the Agriculture Department’s attention to the white fly and ‘Kerala vaadal’ disease that affected coconut farmers in and around Pollachi.
A few farmers urged the Government to establish a coconut development board in the region. Farmer P.R. Sundarasamy, representing the Western Ghats farmers’ association, sought an order to deploy workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Programme for agriculture work.
V. Aruchamy of the Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyar Vivasayeegal Sangam sought a horticulture university in Coimbatore.
Su. Palanisamy of the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association urged the Government to complete the Pandiaru-Ponnampuzha scheme.
