Madurai (PTI): District Collectors in Tamil Nadu should give equal attention to the implementation of various Agriculture and Horticulture development programmes to enable the state top in agricultural productivity, State Agriculture Minister Veerapandi Arumugam said here on Monday.

The Collectors, as head of the districts, were responsible for implementation of various agriculture development programmes including precision farming being implemented in 12,800 hectares and System of Rice Intensification (SRI) which was being implemented in 18.75 lakh hectares of land in the current year.

The Collectors, who were now involved in implementation of welfare scheme,law and order revenue work,would be delegated more powers in the agriculture department in order to show results,he said.

The SRI Scheme had already helped in achieving record yield of 14.27 MT of paddy in Dindigul district.Tamil Nadu would be a top rice-producer,if District Collectors focus and ensure that target of 18.75 lakh hectares (under SRI) was achieved,he claimed.

The Minister was speaking after inaugurating the One-day Workshop on System of Rice Intensification and National Agricultural Development programme organised for 15 District Collectors at the Tamilnadu Agriculture college and Research Institute near here.