Agartala, February 24 – Tripura's Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Ratan Lal Nath, on Tuesday, requested additional central funding for various farmer-centric projects and strongly advocated for large-scale hybrid paddy cultivation in the state.
Nath made these requests during a financial review meeting of centrally sponsored schemes of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, held via video conference under the chairmanship of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Nath requested facilitation for hybrid paddy cultivation over 30,000 hectares under the RKVY-DPR project in the 2026-27 financial year, emphasizing that paddy is cultivated on approximately 50 per cent of Tripura's agricultural land and remains crucial for food security.
The Union Minister reviewed the progress of projects with 18 states, including Tripura, and expressed satisfaction with the state's financial discipline and expenditure trends.
During the meeting, Nath informed that Tripura has utilized 79 per cent of funds received under the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY) Umbrella Scheme, 61 per cent under the Krishi Utpada Yojana Umbrella Scheme, and 61 per cent under the Natural Farming project.
He said that the state aims to fully utilize the allocations in the current financial year and requested additional funds to expand farmer welfare initiatives.
"Our state is among the top five in the country in terms of expenditure," the Minister said.
Highlighting the government's focus on agricultural mechanization, Nath requested an additional Rs 20 crore under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM).
He also informed that the process of issuing Farm IDs is underway and requested facilitation for issuing IDs to over 1.25 lakh tribal farmers who are RoFR patta holders.
Noting that nearly 96 per cent of farmers in the state are small and marginal, Nath urged an upward revision of cost norms under schemes such as RKVY, the National Food Security Mission, and the National Mission on Oil Palm to better support paddy cultivation and allied activities.
The Union Agriculture Minister accepted the validity of the demands and assured that necessary steps would be taken to sanction funds at the earliest. Secretary of the department, Apurba Roy, Director Phanibhushan Jamatia, and other senior officials attended the meeting.