Chennai  :

Inland fisheries production has shot up fourfold in Tamil Nadu in the last three years, said state agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi on Tuesday.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the 35th foundation day celebrations of Nabard here, he said the government had taken steps for enhancing the production in inland fisheries. Places like Mettur and Bhavani Sagar were focused and facilities at an outlay of Rs 354 crore were provided for the purpose, he added.

In his keynote address, additional chief secretary, finance, K Shanmugam sought farmers to engage in mixed farming. They could also grow vegetables for short-term income, apart from concentrating on red gram which gives better returns, he said.

Noting that Tamil Nadu recorded 120 lakh metric tonne of agricultural production last year, he said that the state was targeting 140 metric tons of production this year.