Agriculture development is the key to poverty alleviation and development of rural areas. Tamil Nadu Government is keen on promoting agriculture sector. Agriculture plays the role of a driver which propels growth in Secondary and Tertiary sectors. In this back drop, Government of Tamil Nadu with a serious concern to invigorate agriculture sector and ensure food security and balanced nutrition for all, has brought in various path breaking initiatives so as to usher in Second Green revolution. Concomitant to this vision, the Government is on the anvil of developing agriculture at farm level, by introducing Farm level interventions through computer based Farm Crop Management System which would integrate the farmers, extension and research wing and ensure timely input supply, complete adoption of technology, crop growth monitoring, pest and disease surveillance and marketing linkages.

As the pressure on land is increasing day by day and the cultivable area is continuously shrinking, which necessitates effective utilization of available land and efforts to increase the cropping intensity. As an initial measure, fallow lands suitable for agriculture will be identified and brought under cultivation, besides advocating Integrated Farming System wherein agriculture is integrated with allied activities such as animal husbandry, poultry, aquaculture, sericulture etc., for supplementing and sustaining the income of farmers. Complementing this effort, crop diversification will be promoted for giving wider options to obtain good remuneration.

        Apart from this, initiatives such as individual farm based recommendations,  suitable cropping pattern based on the soil, irrigation and microclimate are suggested through comprehensive Farmers Integrated Handbook, Permeation of innovative technologies viz., System of Rice Intensification, Improved pulses production technologies at farm level as a whole village concept, Sustainable Sugarcane Initiatives, Precision Farming, Micro Irrigation etc., are focused to double the production and triple the income of the farmers especially small, marginal farmers, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribefarmers.

         The Government to ensure effective reach of scheme benefits to the farmers and to improve extension outreach at farm level has provided new vehicles, appointed Block Technology Managers, Subject Matter Specialists with other supporting staff and Farmers' Friend besides establishing Farmers' Hub for speedydelivery of integrated package of extension information.The Government with a determination to achieve an ambitious target of doubling the food grain production during 12th Five Year Plan, has fixed 120 L.MT for 2012-13 for which various new initiatives and approaches have been chalked out.

Second Green Revolution in Tamil Nadu – Increase in Farm Productivity and Farmers’ Income.

The Government has resolved to usher in Second Green Revolution in Tamil Nadu to improve the economic status of the farmers for which it has set itself to bring in necessary changes in strategies and approaches in agriculture as follows:-

      1. Increasing the net cultivable area and productivity with crop specific interventions.

      2. Soil health management approaches

      3. Water resources management.

     4. Input supply management system.

     5. Crop specific strategies to bridge the yield gap.

     6. Improving the economic status of farmers by increasing the productivity and increase their income three folds through farm based interventions and Integrated Farming System approach with extensive use of Information Technology.

     7. Diversifying cultivation in favour of commercial crops while ensuring food and nutritional security.

    8. Strengthening research and extension services in Tamil Nadu for “end-to-end” involvement of extension staff with individual farmer.

     9. Capacity building for excellence.

Thrust Areas

           - Soil health care and increasing the productivity per unit area

           - Raising the income of farmers

           - Strengthening and improving agriculture infrastructure

           - Promoting Micro Irrigation to increase Water Use Efficiency

           - Increasing the cropping and irrigation intensity

           - Providing access to quality inputs

           - Bringing fallow lands under cultivation

1.1. Increasing the net cultivable area and productivity with crop specific interventions

The innate factors such as conversion of fertile agricultural lands for non-agricultural purposes, erratic and uneven distribution of rainfall, dwindling ground water resources, indiscriminate use of fertilizers and pesticides, deterioration in soil health are posing challenges to agriculture. This has resulted in reduction of gross cropped area, net sown area and cropping intensity. Further, poor adoption of crop management practices and generalized cropping system have led to decline in organic matter content and marginalization of land holdings inhibiting large scale adoption of mechanized technologies. The Government has come out with a stronger vision for effective utilization of available agricultural lands with the following objectives:

  Identification and conversion of fallow lands into cultivable lands to promote less water intensive and more remunerative crops

  Reclamation of saline and alkaline soils

  Improvement and sustenance of soil health through adoption of organic farming in a larger extent

  Crop rotation and crop diversification to dispense with the practice of mono cropping without compromising food and nutritional security

  Agro climatic zone wise location specific desired cropping pattern

  Increasing the cropping intensity Activities like identification of fallow lands suitable for cultivation at village level, analyzing the reasons for leaving the lands as fallow, devising suitable strategies to curb the increase in fallow lands, adopting site specific interventions for desired cropping pattern and developing suitable irrigation sources such as farm ponds, check dams, percolation ponds to bring back atleast 5–10% of fallow area under cultivation have been envisaged, besides compensating the pressure of agricultural land conversion for other purposes.

       The Government has also devised suitable strategies like recommendation of village-based Integrated Nutrient Management through stratified soil sampling and analysis, promotion of cluster approach and village concept, promotion of organic farming, Integrated Farming System,

Rainfed Area Development, appropriate market linkages to enable the farmers to take up agriculture as a lucrative profession.

1.2. Soil Health Management Approaches

      The preservation of soil fertility and nutrition management are much imperative for a profitable agriculture in a long run. The present fertility status of the soil is causing greater concern due to mono cropping, intensive cropping and indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and insufficient usage of organic fertilizers. Hence, it has become necessary to explore ways to rejuvenate soil health for which Government is taking suitable soil management approaches which are as follows:-

     - Detailed  soil survey to recommend suitable cropping system

     - Distribution of Farmers’ Integrated Hand Book for ensuring balanced

       fertilizer application in the recommended cropping system

     - Encouraging cultivation of green manure crops in a larger extent.

     - Emphasizing and encouraging organic farming  

   Reclamation of saline and alkaline soils in inland areas besides coastal areas correcting micro nutrient deficiencies

1.3. Water Resources Management

Water, one of the important integral components in agriculture has become a scarce resource in Tamilnadu. Hence, the Government is exploring all avenues to utilize the available water for irrigation to its best. With the main aim to improve the Water Use Efficiency and enhance crop productivity, the Government is focusing on scientific approaches such as promotion of crop diversification, intercropping, adoption of Integrated Farming System, improving water holding capacity of the subbasins, adoption of System of Rice Intensification and Improved Pulses production technologies as a village concept in a larger extent, popularization of Sustainable Sugarcane Initiatives, promotion of Precision Farming and Micro Irrigation, de-silting of tanks and ponds to increase their capacity, construction of water harvesting structures such as check dams, farm ponds, percolation ponds besides rain water harvesting structures for recharging ground water. Government will also emphasize on intensification of irrigated area development and water management schemes to prohibit the diversion of irrigation water for other purposes.

1.4. Input Supply Management System

Ensuring adequate stocking and timely distribution of critical inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, micro nutrients, bio-fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, credit, etc., to the farmers at right time at right place is the first and foremost priority of extension service.

1.4.1.Seeds

The importance of timely availability of certified quality seeds with good yield potential and increasing the Seed Replacement Rate coupled with varietal replacement is the need of the hour. The Government on a perspective vision has vowed to evolve a comprehensive seed plan, create seed banks at village level with buffer stocks of seed materials for various crops, produce seeds on Public Private Partnership mode, strengthen infrastructure facilities for scientific seed production, processing and storage, raise seed farms on a cluster / village concept approach, promote community farming to enable the farmers to produce their own seeds specific to their region and produce seeds on a contract basis at farmers’ field.

1.4.2. Fertilizers

The use of chemical fertilizers and their intensification in many areas are being reviewed and the Government will encourage application of appropriate fertilizers relevant to the soil and crops based on soil test recommendations. The application of slow release fertilizers combined with organic fertilizers will be promoted to improve the fertilizer use efficiency and also the nutritional status of the soil by working in a complementary manner with the natural ecosystem of the soil.

As Precision Farming and Micro Irrigation schemes are being taken up in a large scale, the Government will promote Water Soluble Fertilizers (WSF) / Liquid biofertilizers for various crops like cotton, maize, sunflower, groundnut, sugarcane and coconut as this provides optimum quantity of water & nutrients in well balanced proportion directly to the active root zone.

1.4.3. Plant Protection Management

Tamil Nadu is one of the pioneer states in successful adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Non-Pesticidal Management(NPM) in a big way.  The adoption of NPM in several rainfed and irrigated cropping systems has led to change over in policy and research attention on these systems. Tamil Nadu State is particularly attentive to increased adoption of this productivity enhancing, cost effective and eco-friendly production practices. Further, the increased use of pesticides has disturbing consequences on the present farming system, particularly due to the development of resistance, resurgence of crop pests and decline in population of the natural enemies. Hence, the Government besides stepping up investment in research and development of technology on NPM, has also taken steps to promote usage of bio-pesticides which are more effective in managing crops in an environmentally protective manner.

1.4.4. Bio-Control Agents

Increasing demand for organic produces and higher returns have made the farmers to incline towards organic farming for which usage of biocides and bio-control agents are essential. Bio control agents are produced through the Government owned  Bio Control Agents Production Centres and distributed to the farmers under various subsidy schemes to control pests like sugarcane internode borer, coconut black headed caterpillar and groundnut Prodenia.