Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura chosen for Krishi Karman Awards, 2015-16

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has selected Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura for the Krishi Karman awards for their record performance in the production of food grains during 2015-16. Apart from these states, Meghalaya would get commendation prize for total food grain production and would be given a cash award of Rs 1 crore.
Tamil Nadu has been chosen in large category (production more than 10 million tonnes), Himachal Pradesh in medium category (1 to 10 million tonnes) and Tripura in small category (less than 1 million tonnes).
Tamil Nadu had produced 130 lakh tonnes of foodgrains in 2015-16, which is the highest in the last five years. In terms of yield in foodgrains, the state managed to get a yield of 3.38 tonnes per hectare as against the all-India average of 2.028 tonnes per hectare, which is 67% more than the national average. The state had adopted an “innovative, eco-friendly integrated pest management” to achieve this feat. In addition, government interventions like post-harvest management, disbursal of subsidies and integrated soil health management were also taken into account by the agricultural ministry.
Tamil Nadu will receive a sum of Rs 5 crore for the award. Tamil Nadu had already bagged the award thrice in 2011-12 for highest food grains production, in 2013-14 for highest pulses production and in 2014-15 for highest coarse cereals production.
Tripura has been selected for the Krishi Karman Award 2015-16 for a commendable increase in food grain production in small category states. The state produced 825,000 tonnes of food grain in 2016. The state would also receive a cash award of Rs five crore. Tripura gets this national award for the second time. The state targets to produce 935,000 tonnes of food grain in 2017.

Krishi Karman Awards

Krishi Karman awards were instituted in 2010-11 by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to reward the best performing States in the production of foodgrains and individual crops of Rice, Wheat, Pulses and Coarse Cereals.
Totally, eight awards are given, including three for the States with highest foodgrains production in three identified categories-large, medium and small, and five awards are given for highest production under each of the crops Rice, Wheat, Pulses, Coarse Cereals and Oilseeds.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017