Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday announced a Rs 54.65 crore package to Cauvery Delta farmers including a subsidy of Rs 4,000 per acre for using modern equipment, to achieve higher yield and increase short-term 'kuruvai' paddy crop cultivation.
Like in previous four years, 12-hour power would be supplied to six Cauvery Delta districts, including Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam, for agriculture, she said in a release here.
At an outlay of Rs 40 crore, a subsidy of Rs 4,000 per acre would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of farmers who take up Kuruvai cultivation through farm implements.
Jayalalithaa announced the package after chairing a high-level meeting in which Agriculture Minister R Duraikannu, and top state officials participated.
She said the storage in Mettur Dam, the lifeline of delta farmers, was only 45.82 feet with storage of 15.281 TMC. Even if the state received 10 TMC water from Karnataka, being its entitlement for June, there will be only 61 feet and hence water could not be released for Kuruvai season.
"The six Cauvery Delta Districts have received sufficient rainfall in the current summer season and it has led to a rise in the ground water table.I have ordered measures to encourage farmers to go in for large scale Kuruvai crop cultivation," the Chief Minister said.
She said farmers will be encouraged to go in for timely paddy planting work by deploying farm implements, and by using the System for Rice Intensification. SRI envisages less water utilisation while fetching a higher yield.
Similarly, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes will be provided at 100 per cent subsidy to efficaciously use ground water resources and increase the Kuruvai cultivation area.
Micro-nutrients will be provided at 100 per cent subsidy which will be Rs 170 per acre for 50,000 acres of land that face nutrient deficiency.
Also, zinc sulphate will be provided to one lakh acres of land and for this purpose a subsidy of Rs 400 will be given to farmers and Rs 4.85 crore will be allotted for it, she said.
For the benefit of farmers where there are not adequate numbers of borewells and who had not carried out Kuruvai cultivation in the past several years, subsidy for seed will be given so that they could go in for short term millet (green gram) cultivation in 15,000 acres, she said.
Besides, a subsidy of Rs 1,400 per acre will be given for millet cultivation and an allocation of Rs 2.10 crore will be made for it.
Similarly seeds will be given at 100 per cent subsidy for farmers in the Cauvery tail end regions at an allocation of Rs 5.70 crore.
"These measures will entail an expenditure of Rs 54.65 crore," she said adding due to these measures farmers will be able to get higher yield and go in for kuruvai crop cultivation in more areas.
