TN to promote agri-related clusters

The Tamil Nadu government is planning to promote agri-related clusters in dry areas across the state.

Speaking at the Nabard's State Credit Seminar here on Wednesday, K Shanmugam, state principal secretary – finance, said one of the ways, which the state government had identified to increase the farmers income was to promote allied agricultural activities like animal husbandry in the dry areas.

“We have asked the department (animal husbandry) to identify new clusters like Gudiyattam, Sankarankovil to promote clusters related to animal husbandry especially, poultry.

He said a a senior level team from the agriculture department had visited Gujarat to study its success in the area of micro irrigation and implementation of post harvesting technology through contract farming.

“Productivity gap in the agriculture need to be addressed and issues could be tackled only if we are focused on advanced technology. We need to focus on allied sector in agriculture, including animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, horticulture and others, which can supplement farmers' income,” he said.