Agartala, Oct 11: The Tripura government has invested Rs 461.83 crore in infrastructure development across 204 agricultural markets between 2018-19 and 2025-26 to improve market access for farmers and help them secure better prices for their produce, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath said on Sunday.
Nath made the announcement while inaugurating development projects and laying foundation stones for new initiatives of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department in Khowai district and Kalyanpur.
He inaugurated the office of the Deputy Director of Agriculture, Horticulture and Soil Conservation in Khowai district and a two-storey rural market at Brindavan Ghat Bazar.
Tripura has 554 agricultural markets, of which infrastructure development work has been undertaken in 204. While 87 projects have been completed, work on the remaining 117 is in progress, the minister said.
The projects include the construction and renovation of market sheds and stalls, besides providing toilets, drinking water and drainage facilities. The initiative aims to improve market infrastructure and facilitate the sale and purchase of agricultural produce, enabling farmers to obtain remunerative prices, he said.
Nath said 71 market infrastructure projects were undertaken between 2013 and 2017 with an allocation of Rs 20.26 crore.
The state government is also focusing on increasing agricultural and horticultural production to enhance farmers’ incomes and reduce dependence on food grain cultivation by encouraging a wider variety of horticultural and garden crops, he said.
Every district now has a Deputy Director of Agriculture and a Deputy Director of Horticulture and Land Conservation. The government has also decided to establish an Agricultural Sub-Divisional Office in every block to ensure that farmers can access central and state government welfare schemes more easily.
Tripura currently has 47 Agricultural Sub-Divisional Offices and nine Horticulture and Land Conservation Sub-Divisional Offices, Nath said.
On natural farming, he said 5,550 hectares were under the cultivation method, benefiting 13,875 farmers. An additional 11,250 hectares would be brought under natural farming during the 2026-27 financial year.
Organically produced crops worth Rs 17.2 crore have been marketed in different states and foreign countries since 2020-21, he added.
Highlighting farm mechanisation, Nath said 50,300 agricultural machines had been distributed across the state over the past eight years, with subsidies totalling Rs 233.63 crore. Between 2013 and 2017, 2,600 machines were distributed with subsidies of Rs 28.35 crore.
The government has also initiated the process of issuing a unique Farmer ID to every farmer to facilitate access to welfare schemes run by the Centre and the state, he said.
