Tamil Nadu appears to be well placed to achieve a record rice production in the current year, too, going by the coverage during the Kuruvai cultivation season and the storage in 15 major reservoirs.
Despite the rice production for 2022-23 having been projected to be lower than the previous year and the State government’s push for crop diversification, the comfortable position of reservoirs and the reliability of the minimum support system (MSP) for paddy are expected to make farmers stick to their age-old practice of raising paddy, according to many farmers and agricultural specialists. During 2021-22, the State produced 80.67 lakh tonnes of rice and the target for the present year is 75.5 lakh tonnes.
This time, the State has accomplished the coverage of around 5.36 lakh acres in the Cauvery delta, about 46,000 acres higher than what was achieved last year and nearly 14,000 acres more than the target. The ongoing Kuruvai season is expected to yield at least 16 lakh tonnes of rice.
