CHENNAI: The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss has said that Tamil Nadu’s agriculture sector has registered negative growth for the second consecutive year, claiming that it exposes the DMK government’s “deceptive claims” of prosperity.
Citing data from the Reserve Bank of India’s Handbook of Statistics on Indian States, he stated that the value of agricultural output at constant prices declined to Rs 51,862.76 crore in 2024–25 in the State, a fall of 1.83% from Rs 52,831.20 crore in 2023–24.
Anbumani claimed that agriculture has been pushed back by 13 years, with output levels nearing those of 2011–12. While agriculture contributed 6.7% to the state economy then, its share has now fallen to just 2.99% in 2024–25, even as the overall economy expanded, he said.
Anbumani alleged that the DMK government is masking rural distress by highlighting selective growth figures driven by manufacturing and services, which benefit only 40% of the population. "With nearly 60% population dependent on agriculture, the sector’s decline has deepened income inequality," he said.
The PMK president further blamed the government’s failure to improve irrigation, ensure fair prices, provide input subsidies, and fix procurement prices, and demanded that the DMK admit the decline and take corrective measures.