Tripura agriculture minister seeks additional central funds, meets Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Tripura Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath on February 24 sought additional financial allocation from the Centre for the benefit of farmers and proposed new initiatives for the upcoming financial year during a review meeting chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The financial review meeting of centrally sponsored schemes under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Tripura, was held via video conferencing. During the meeting, Nath requested facilitation for bringing 30,000 hectares under hybrid paddy cultivation in 2026–27 under the RKVY-DPR component of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

He informed that the state has so far utilised 79 per cent of the funds received under the PM-KVY Umbrella Scheme and 61 per cent under the Krishi Utpada Yojana Umbrella Scheme. Additionally, 61 per cent of the allocation under the Natural Farming project has been spent. The Minister asserted that the state aims to fully utilise the current financial year’s allocation and sought enhanced expenditure limits to support farmers across projects. He claimed that Tripura ranks among the top five states in the country in terms of fund utilisation.

Highlighting the state’s focus on farm mechanisation, Nath requested an additional ₹20 crore under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) to strengthen infrastructure and equipment access for farmers.

He also raised the issue of issuing Farm IDs, stating that more than 1.25 lakh farmers from tribal communities who are RoFR patta holders require facilitation in obtaining identification cards.

Pointing out that paddy cultivation accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the cropped area in the state, the Minister sought enhanced cost allocation under the National Food Security Mission to safeguard food security and farmer interests. Noting that around 96 per cent of Tripura’s farmers are small and marginal, he further demanded revision of existing cost norms under schemes such as RKVY, the National Food Security framework, and the National Mission on Oil Palm to ensure greater financial viability for cultivators.