The Centre, Tamil Nadu Government and the World Bank today signed a 318 million dollar loan agreement for the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project to promote climate resilient agriculture technologies, improve water management practices, and increase market opportunities for small and marginal farmers.<br/><br/>About 5 lakh farmers of which a majority are small and marginal are expected to benefit from improved and modernized tank irrigation systems. The project will rehabilitate and modernize about 4,800 irrigation tanks and 477 check dams, spread across 66 sub-basins, in delivering bulk water to irrigation systems.<br/><br/>The agreement for the project was signed by Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs in Ministry of Finance Sameer Kumar Khare, Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, Tamil Nadu S K Prabhakar and Program Leader and Acting Country Director of World Bank, India John Blomquist.<br/><br/>Mr Khare said, rehabilitating and modernizing irrigation tanks will improve the reliability and availability of irrigation water for farming communities, making them less prone to climatic hazards.<br/><br/>He said, Tamil Nadu, being a water-stressed state, continues to experience water shortages which are expected to further exacerbate in the future. He said, More than 1 lakh 60 thousand hacteres of currently partially irrigated lands will come into full irrigation under this project.<br/><br/>Mr Blomquist said, the project will help Tamil Nadu scale up its efforts to unlock the full potential of its agriculture sector. He said, it will support farmers improve the efficiency of water used in farming, diversify into high value crops, and produce crops that are resilient to the increasing threats of climate change. He said, such efforts will be a win-win for all, leading to better use of scarce water resources and raising household incomes of farmers.