CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday said 25% of Tamil Nadu’s total budget should be allocated to agriculture and allied sectors as the sector’s contribution to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has declined to 2.99%.Anbumani presented PMK’s 19th agriculture shadow budget for 2026-27.After releasing the budget, Anbumani said the proposed allocation would help revive agriculture, improve farmers’ income and raise the sector’s contribution to GSDP to 20% over the next five years.“Tamil Nadu’s budget must allocate 25% of its total outlay to agriculture and allied sectors so that farming becomes profitable and agriculture regains its rightful place in the state’s economy,” he said.The shadow budget proposed an outlay of Rs 93,000 crore for agriculture and irrigation, including ₹68,000 crore for the agriculture department and ₹25,000 crore for irrigation projects.He said an Agriculture Investors Meet should be organised to attract investments into agro-based industries, agricultural economic zones and agri-startups, with financial support for 250 startups.Anbumani said Tamil Nadu should implement special initiatives to increase agriculture’s contribution to GSDP from 2.99% to 20% within five years and appoint an expert committee to recommend measures for making farming profitable.He said 15,000 lakes have disappeared in Tamil Nadu over the past few decades while the storage capacity of 27,000 lakes has reduced due to encroachments, and proposed setting up a Lakes Management Board to restore and protect water bodies.He also proposed enhanced farm subsidies, crop loan waivers, higher procurement prices, expansion of irrigation projects, creation of 50 lakh jobs in agriculture and allied sectors, and protection of agricultural land from industrial acquisition.
