Tamil Nadu’s Agri Budget: hits and misses Premium

Critics feel that core issues haven’t received due attention in 2024 Tamil Nadu Agriculture Budget  

Even as the DMK regime in Tamil Nadu came out on February 20 with its fourth exclusive Budget for agriculture, the debate is on among policymakers, agriculturists, experts, and political figures about the efficacy of the exercise.

While proponents of the idea of a separate Budget highlight that the farm sector, as a whole, hogs the limelight, critics feel that core issues are yet to receive the attention that they deserve.

The concept of an agriculture Budget was one of the assurances of the ruling party at the time of the 2021 Assembly poll and this was fulfilled when the maiden Budget was presented that year. As is known, the Budget illustrates the government’s plans of allocations not just for the agriculture department but also for others that have a bearing on the farm sector. For example, the latest Budget talks of ₹16,500 crore as the target for the coming year’s short term crop loans, which are disbursed through primary agricultural cooperative credit societies (PACCS) that come under the direct ambit of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies in the Department of Cooperation. The proposed allocations of at least half a dozen departments that impact agriculture and farmers have also been presented in a concise manner.

At the macro level, the outlay made under the Revenue Expenditure for the entire sector comes to about ₹33,480 crore, which is nearly 10% of the State’s total Revenue Expenditure. Combined with capital expenditure, the overall outlay is around ₹42,282 crore for 2024-25 against ₹34,221 crore for 2021-22.

This year’s highlight is a programme on soil health improvement — the CM’s Mannuyir Kaathu Mannuyir Kaappom Scheme (CM MK MKS). It will have 22 components at an outlay of ₹206 crore during 2024-2025. As part of the scheme, green manure seeds will be distributed to cover two lakh acres, benefitting farmers. The second and third sets of abbreviations in the English title of the scheme may remind any discerning observer of the references to the names of former CM M. Karunanidhi and the present, M.K. Stalin.

A top official emphasises that a separate Budget facilitates higher allocation, a point that the critics feel that would have been possible even in the earlier scheme of presenting an encompassing Budget. However, the official is of the view that convergence of schemes, being implemented by departments other than agriculture, is done in a better way and at all levels — from village to the State. Such schemes are being carried out by the departments of Water Resources, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and Animal Husbandry.

The Budget approach enables attention to area specific improvement for which strategies are being planned and schemes formulated. Increase in the area, production and productivity of crops, climate resilient cropping system, natural farming and conservation of traditional varieties are among the areas being covered.