World Bank join hands with Tamil Nadu to bring up ‘Climate Resilient Agriculture’ into mainstream for supporting farmers

NewsBharati    27-Dec-2017
Total Views |

Chennai, December 27: While Cyclone Ockhi destroyed many families in Tamil Nadu, to provide relief the many initiatives has been taking up lead in these days. Also Tamil Nadu is a state which faces water scarcity issues. Around $318 Million loan agreement was inked with World Bank to back and support ‘Climate Resilient Agriculture’ in Tamil Nadu. 

Signing the heavy packed loan is expected to benefit over 500,000 farmers in Tamil Nadu. The Government of India, the Government of Tamil Nadu and the World Bank signed a $318 million loan agreement for the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project to promote climate resilient agriculture technologies, improve water management practices, and increase market opportunities for small and marginal farmers.

The project will rehabilitate and modernize about 4,800 irrigation tanks and 477 check dams, spread across 66 sub-basins, in delivering bulk water to irrigation systems.

Rehabilitating and modernizing irrigation tanks will improve the reliability and availability of irrigation water for farming communities, making them less prone to climatic hazards. More than 160,000 ha of currently partially irrigated lands will come into full irrigation under this project,” said Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

The agreement for the project was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India; S. K. Prabhakar, Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, on behalf of the Government of Tamil Nadu and John Blomquist, Program Leader and Acting Country Director, World Bank, India on behalf of the World Bank.

“This project will help Tamil Nadu scale up its efforts to unlock the full potential of its agriculture sector. It will support farmers improve the efficiency of water used in farming, diversify into high value crops, and produce crops that are resilient to the increasing threats of climate change. Such efforts will be a win-win for all, leading to better use of scarce water resources and raising household incomes of farmers,” said John Blomquist, Program Leader and Acting Country Director, World Bank, India.