Chief Minister MK Stalin addressed farmers and agricultural experts at a farm exhibition here and said that the farm exhibition will help farmers learn more about the advanced technologies available in the agriculture sector | Photo credit: Special arrangement
Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the two-day mega agricultural exhibition and projects worth over ₹700 crore in Tiruvannamalai on Saturday.
Addressing the farmers and agricultural experts at the farm exhibition here, Mr. Stalin said that the farm exhibition will help the farmers to know more about the advanced technologies available in the agriculture sector. In addition to agricultural technology, the exhibition will also help them learn about new types of seeds, agricultural methods, marketing techniques, food processing methods and crop insurance.
The expo also features interactive sessions between farmers and farming experts under 13 different themes to enrich farmers. “In the last five years, the Tamil Nadu government has released water from the Mettur dam on time for irrigation, which has benefited about 20 lakh farmers in the state,” he said.
The chief minister said that a separate annual budget for agriculture was introduced in 2021 under the Dravidian model of governance, underscoring the importance the DMK regime attaches to the agriculture sector. Since then, five agriculture budgets have allocated ₹1.94 crore. In fact, the 2024-25 farm budget has a budgetary allocation of ₹ 45,661 crore, which is 33% more than the 2021-22 farm budget.
The Chief Minister said that the Uzhavar Santhais (farmers’ markets) have been given a facelift. In the last five years, 125 renovated farmers’ markets and 14 new farmers’ markets have also been opened in the state to help small farmers sell their produce directly to consumers.
On crop damage, Mr Stalin said ₹631.76 crore has been compensated to 20.84 crore farmers for crop damage of 32.81 crore acres from 2021. During 2024-25, 5.66 crore acres of agricultural land has been damaged due to the northeast monsoon. as compensation for the 3.60 lakh affected farmers in the state. He also added that a crop loss assessment for the 2025 season is being carried out.
The Chief Minister announced that the existing dilapidated leased building of the Paddy Mall at Peranamallur village near Vandavasi would get a permanent building at a cost of ₹ 3 crore. The new building will have a capacity to store 500 metric tons of grain with common rooms for farmers to relax.
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker K. Pitchandi, Public Works Minister EV Velu, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister MRK Panneerselvam, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and Tiruvannamalai Collector K. Tharpagaraj were present.
Published – 27 Dec 2025 19:36 IST
