Tamil Nadu Agriculture Budget Draws Criticism From Farmers Bodies

Thoothukudi: Farmers’ organisations criticised the Tamil Nadu agriculture budget 2026-27, presented on Thursday, contending that it failed to address the pressing concerns of cultivators and lacked measures capable of improving farm incomes or reducing the cost of cultivation. 

O.A. Narayanasamy of Virudhunagar, president of the Tamil Vivasaayigal Sangam, described the maiden agriculture budget of the Joseph Vijay-led TVK government as a “disappointing exercise”, alleging that it resembled a stage performance rather than a roadmap for revitalising the farm sector.

He said the coalition government, led by the TVK, had failed to honour its election promise of a complete crop loan waiver and had announced no significant long-term measures to improve farmers’ livelihoods or reduce cultivation costs.

Narayanasamy further alleged that despite the nearly two-and-a-half-hour budget presentation, it offered little of substance for farmers and would be remembered as a budget that had disappointed the farming community rather than inspiring confidence among cultivators.

The Kovilpatti-based Karisal Bhoomi Farmers’ Association, too, was critical of the agriculture budget.

Its president, A. Varadharajan, said the budget had failed rainfed farmers by not announcing any major schemes for dryland agriculture, which sustains a large section of cultivators in the southern districts.

Varadharajan pointed out that the proposal to provide subsidised wild boar repellent would have little practical impact, claiming the chemical loses its effectiveness after rainfall, while farmers had long sought more effective measures to protect crops from wild boars.

He also criticised the allocation for maize cultivation training, arguing that farmers would benefit more from subsidised, high-yielding seeds, fertilisers and crop protection inputs than from training programmes.

The farmer urged the government to enhance crop insurance allocations, provide greater financial support for millet cultivation, increase assistance for onion storage infrastructure and supply subsidised native coriander seeds suited to local conditions.

The budget, he alleged, had overlooked several long-pending demands of farmers in the region.