Agartala, February 25, 2026: Tripura’s Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Tuesday urged the Centre to provide additional financial allocations to strengthen farmer-centric schemes in the state, while also seeking approval for large-scale hybrid paddy cultivation in the coming financial year.

The Minister placed these demands during a financial review meeting of centrally sponsored schemes of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Tripura, held via video conference under the chairmanship of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The review covered implementation and expenditure performance across 18 states, including Tripura.

During the meeting, the Union Minister appreciated Tripura’s financial discipline and expenditure pattern. Ratan Lal Nath informed that the state has already utilised around 79 per cent of funds received under the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY) Umbrella Scheme, 61 per cent under the Krishi Utpada Yojana Umbrella Scheme, and a similar 61 per cent under the Natural Farming project.

Emphasising the state’s strong performance, the Minister said Tripura figures among the top five states in the country in terms of expenditure efficiency. He added that the state government aims to fully utilise the entire allocation within the current financial year and therefore sought additional funding support from the Centre for various ongoing and proposed initiatives.

Highlighting the government’s focus on farm mechanisation, Ratan Lal Nath demanded an additional Rs 20 crore for the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM). He also requested facilitation for bringing 30,000 hectares under hybrid paddy cultivation through the RKVY-DPR project in the 2026–27 financial year.

The Minister further informed that work on issuing Farm IDs is underway in Tripura. Given that over 1.25 lakh tribal farmers in the state are RoFR patta holders, he urged the Centre to take special measures to ensure their inclusion in the Farm ID framework.

Noting that paddy accounts for cultivation on nearly 50 per cent of Tripura’s agricultural land, the Minister pressed for enhanced cost allocations under the National Food Security Mission, keeping in view food security and farmer welfare. He pointed out that nearly 96 per cent of the state’s farmers are small and marginal, and therefore sought revision of existing cost norms under schemes such as RKVY, NFSM and the National Mission on Oil Palm.

The Union Agriculture Minister acknowledged the legitimacy of Tripura’s demands and assured that necessary steps would be taken at the earliest to sanction additional funds.

The meeting was attended by Agriculture Department Secretary Apurba Roy, Director Dr. Phanibhushan Jamatia, and other senior officials.