Chennai: In view of the ensuing long-term Samba crop season, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa Tuesday announced an additional subsidy of Rs 17.10 crore to farmers of Cauvery Delta region, taking the total to over Rs 70 crore in this regard.
Jayalalithaa had earlier allotted Rs 53.53 crore towards various sops and subsidies for farmers to take up the Samba crop in the Cauvery Delta region, whose prospects had initially looked bleak in the wake of low water levels at the Mettur Dam.
Among today's sops, she said farmers will be provided with 30 kg of sample seeds per acre for direct sowing with a Rs 10 subsidy and also announced increasing the acreage for certain other farm subsidies.
Due to these measures, the government will incur an additional expense of Rs 17.10 crore, and a total sum of Rs 70.63 crore had been allotted to Cauvery Delta farmers for Samba crop cultivation, she said in a statement here.
She had earlier announced releasing water from Mettur Dam from September 17, the first time in the year, as water was not released for the previous kuruvai (short-term) crop.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 13:17