Chennai (Tamil Nadu): The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on Sunday released Tamil Nadu's shadow agricultural budget for the year 2021-22. PMK founder president S.Ramadoss released the party's 14th shadow agricultural budget focusing on 75 specific areas and over 250 suggestions aimed to create and develop agricultural infrastructure and agricultural education infrastructure.
The budget also focuses to achieve an agricultural growth of 6 per cent from negative growth in the past. Ramadoss, while speaking at the occasion, said that the total amount allocated in the agricultural budget was Rs 47,500 crore. He added, "We are happy and we welcome the Governor's address which mentions that a specific agricultural budget will be allocated to the state."
The PMK founder further said that the party has focused on 75 specific areas in the report. He added: "Every year we give prominence for one aspect of agriculture, and this year we have focused on agricultural education." The PMK founder leader said that there was a need to create cold storage facilities to safeguard perishable products like vegetables, flowers, and fruits.
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Ramadoss said that massive storage facilities must be created to store grains. The report also mentions on linking of Godavari- Cauvery rivers, expanding the Cauvery-Gundaru river project, the Athikadavu-Avinasi project, and the allotment of Rs 1,00,000 crore worth of water irrigation projects.
Anbumani Ramadoss, son of S. Ramadoss and former Union Health Minister who is also the youth wing leader of the PMK said that the party has created the budget with the support and inputs of 100 serving bureaucrats of the state government. He said, "Tamil Nadu is a state which is second in the country as far as the production of vegetables is concerned but we export only 1 per cent - 2 per cent of this product as we lack cold storage facilities.