Chennai: Chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday announced enhanced state incentives for paddy and sugarcane, taking the procurement price to a record Rs 2,750 per quintal for fine variety paddy, Rs 2,600 for common variety and Rs 4,000 per tonne for sugarcane.Making the announcement under Rule 110 in the assembly, Vijay said the state govt had decided to enhance the incentives despite its difficult financial position to protect farmers’ interests. As per the announcement, the state will provide a special incentive of Rs 289 per quintal for fine variety paddy and Rs 159 for common variety, taking the total procurement price to Rs 2,750 and Rs 2,600 respectively. For sugarcane, the state has enhanced its incentive to Rs 709.50 per tonne, taking the total procurement price to Rs 4,000 per tonne, the CM said.“Though the fiscal position of the state was not in an ideal shape, we decided to make this historic hike in incentives for paddy and sugarcane for the welfare of farmers,’’ Vijay said.“This is the first time in Tamil Nadu history that the state incentive for paddy has been increased by more than Rs 156 in a year and that for sugarcane by more than Rs 134,” Vijay said, amid thumping of desks by treasury bench members.However, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss demanded that the paddy procurement price should be hiked to Rs 3000 per quintal.
