2019- 2020 2019 Policy Note 2019-2020 INDEX S.No. Contents Page No. Introduction 1-9 1. Agriculture 10-131 2. Horticulture and Plantation Crops 132-190 3. Agricultural Engineering 191-234 Agricultural Education, Research 4. 235-259 and Extension Education 5. Sugar 260-273 Seed Certification and Organic 6. 274-292 Certification Agricultural Marketing and 7. 293-345 Agri Business Tamil Nadu Watershed 8. 346-363 Development Agency (TAWDEVA) 9. Demand 364-367 Conclusion 368-372 INTRODUCTION “cGth® cyf¤jh®¡F Mâ m~ jh‰whJ vGthiu všyh« bghW¤J” (ÂU¡FwŸ:1032) [Meaning: Agriculturists are (as it were) the linch-pin of the world for they support all other workers who cannot till the soil.] ***** Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is the largest source of livelihood in Tamil Nadu. More than two third of rural households in the State still depend primarily on agriculture for their sustenance, with 93 percent of farmers being small and marginal. The welfare and well being of the State's population mainly depends either directly or indirectly on fortunes of agriculture. Moreover, the primary responsibility of the State Government is to ensure stability in agricultural 1 sector and sustainability in agricultural production of the State. Agriculture is undergoing perceptible changes as it gets transformed from traditional to modern economy which is an important step towards economic development. The traditional uncompromising practices followed in the erstwhile years and the systematic method of cultivation impregnated with Good Agricultural Practices focussing on environment for production of food grains are gaining momentum in the modern agriculture. The State Government is promoting environment friendly sustainable agriculture and encouraging farmers to adopt such practices with an objective to meet the demands put forth by the growing population in the food segment as well as the raw materials for agro-based industries in an eco-friendly sustainable way. The better agricultural accomplishments are the result of continued technological gains and appropriate policies and timely intervention measures of the Government. A strong and vibrant agricultural system forms the primary 2 pillar in the strategies for overall economic development. The economy of the State still depends to a large extent on agriculture and other allied activities. When agriculture grows, it creates the way for generation of employment, both directly and indirectly in rural and urban areas. Government of Tamil Nadu is taking all out efforts to increase productivity and farmers’ income by adopting frontier agriculture technologies to a larger extent for various crops cultivated in Tamil Nadu by actively involving farmers and extension officers with due research backing. The Government of Tamil Nadu is taking plethora of sound policies and revolutionary strategies to give impetus to agriculture by bringing in various agrarian reforms and crop specific, season specific, soil specific, climate specific, farm specific approaches in agriculture which is beleaguered by enigmatic weather, uncertainty in rainfall, slumping land area,plummeting water resources, deteriorating soil fertility, unrestrainable pests & diseases, 3 increased costs of critical inputs, difficulty in horizontal expanse of land resources, labour scarcity and vacillating market prices. Against all these odds, the Government of Tamil Nadu has set a remarkable footprint in food grain production by achieving more than 100 Lakh Metric Tonnes since 2011-12. The technological breakthrough in increasing the productivity and the cultivable area with interventions such as integrated approach to enrich the Soil fertility; Mission on Sustainable Dryland Agriculture, System of Rice Intensification, Collective farming, Integrated Farming System, Farm mechanisation; adoption of water conservation measures with Micro Irrigation; post-harvest management of crop produces, Risk Insurance, Agro information technological interventions; Organic farming, Food Processing Policy and interlinking agricultural markets through eNAM etc., have removed the impasse in agriculture production and paved way for the State to surpass 100 Lakh Metric Tonnes of Food Grain production Six times in a row during 2011-2012, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2017-18 4 and 2018-19 (4th advance estimate) except 2012-13 & 2016-17 being the years of severe drought. The State was conferred with “Krishi Karman award” four times (2011-12, 2013-14, 2014-15 & 2015-16) in a period of seven years by Government of India. Genesis of the Department The Department of Agriculture was established in 1882 based on the recommendations of the Indian Famine Commission, 1880. In 1904, the Directorate of Agriculture was carved out as an independent unit with Director of Agriculture and necessary supporting staff. In 1905, the Agricultural College, which was under the control of Directorate of Public Instructions was annexed to the Department of Agriculture and presently functioning as Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Several changes took place in its organizational setup owing to bifurcation of the State, Districts and Taluks. 5 Agriculture Scenario in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu is geographically located between 8°5' and 13°35' North latitude and between 76°14’ and 80°21' East longitude. Tamil Nadu falls in semi-arid to dry sub humid climate. This geographical position supports higher crop productivity under irrigation. The total geographical area of Tamil Nadu is 130.33 Lakh Ha which constitutes 4 percent of the Nation’s geographical area (10th Largest State) with coastal line of 1,076 km. Tamil Nadu is one of the most water starved States endowed with only 3 per cent of the Nation's water resources putting high stress on irrigation water availability and vulnerable to seasonal fluctuations causing uncertainty in Agriculture production. However, the Tamil Nadu Government with its proactive policies and strategic implementation of schemes overwhelmed these challenges and paved the way for continued increase of food grains. 6 The Tamil Nadu land use pattern as per the latest statistical report(2017-18) is given below: Table 1.1: Land Use Pattern in Tamil Nadu % with Area reference S. Details (Lakh total No Ha) Geographical area 1 Forest 21.57 16.55 2 Net Cropped Area (*) 46.39 35.59 3 Area under Misc. Tree crops 2.26 1.73 4 Permanent Pastures 1.07 0.82 5 Current fallow 9.92 7.61 6 Other fallows 19.33 14.83 7 Culturable Waste 3.20 2.46 8 Land put to non agricultural 22.01 16.89 use 9 Barren and Unculturable land 4.58 3.51 Total Geographical Area 130.33 100.00 Cropping Intensity (%) 124 - (*) Difference between Gross Cropped Area (57.30 Lakh Hectare) and Area sown more than once (10.91 Lakh Hectare) Source: Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Tamil Nadu, (Provisional) Tamil Nadu is the sixth most populous State with 6 percent of the Nation’s population (2011 Census). According to the 10th Agriculture Census 2015-16 (Provisional), the number of operational land holders in the State is 79.38 Lakh, operating cultivable land 7 of 59.73 Lakh Hectare. Small and Marginal holders account for 93% of the total holdings operating 62% of the area occupied. The remaining 38% of the total Land holdings are occupied by 7% of medium and big farmers. The average size of the land holding in the State is 0.75 hectare which is less than the average size of land holding of the country (1.08 Hectare). The State's average annual rainfall is around 921 mm which is less than the National average of 1,200 mm. The quantum of rainfall received during Winter (January - February), Summer (March - May), South-West Monsoon (June – September) and North-East Monsoon (October - December) is 3%, 14%, 35% and 48% respectively.The per capital availability of water is 750 cubic meters per year as compared to the all India average of 2,200 cubic meters. The details of net area irrigated using various sources of irrigation across the State (2017-18) are as follows: 8 Table 1.2: Water Source wise Net Area Irrigated % with Net Area Availability reference to Source Irrigated (Nos) Net Area (Lakh Ha.) Irrigated Canals 2,244 5.89 22.43 Tanks 41,120 3.58 13.63 Wells and 18,70,841 16.77 63.86 Bore wells Others 0.02 0.08 Total 26.26 100.00 Source: Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Tamil Nadu, (Provisional) The area irrigated by wells and borewells accounted for 64% followed by Canals (22%) and Tanks (14%). 9 1. AGRICULTURE 1.1. Goals, Strategies and achievements of the Department Government of Tamil Nadu, a leading State in holistic development of Agriculture, has formulated proactive policies, new initiatives and novel technological innovations to overcome the challenges in agriculture and implemented Good Agricultural Practices for the enhancement in production, productivity and total area expansion of food crops and other commercial crops. The revolutionary strategies in Agriculture policy and planning such as sustainable action plan for Climate change in Agriculture, Climate resilient farming system, Inegrated farming system, Collective Farming, Mission on Sustainable Dryland Agriculture, Micro irrigation, procurement of pulses through NAFED, Risk insurance, Organic farming, etc., have supported the farmers resulting in transformation of agricultue as a business. Government also planned various new approaches for doubling Food Grain production in the State such as System of Rice intensification (SRI), Direct sowing of Paddy, Machine Transplanting of Paddy, Redgram 10 transplantation,