The Chief Minister will soon form a committee of Ministers to assess the impact of drought in non-Delta districts and announce a relief package for those farmers, Agriculture Minister S. Damodharan said. He was speaking at the launch of ‘Uzhavar Peruvizha’ in Sultanpet, near here, on Sunday.
The committee that visited Delta districts to assess loss due to drought would submit a report to the Chief Minister. These were challenging times for the farmers, who were forced to adopt new techniques to reap profit. The committee had come to the farmer’s rescue at the correct time. Director, Agriculture Department, M. Rajendran said that by adopting a system having rice-intensification technique, the State planned to increase paddy production to 1.30 lakh tonnes.
Last year the target was 1 lakh metric tonne. The Department would encourage the remaining 70 per cent paddy farmers to adopt the technique. Collector M. Karunagaran, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor K. Ramasamy, and Joint Director, Agriculture Lakshmi Raj took part in the launch.
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