Protected Special Agriculture Zone

Subject: Environment

Context:

The Tamilnadu government has notified rules for Tamil Nadu Protected Agricultural Zone Development Act which came into force on February 21. The rules are aimed at protecting the farmer interest along the Cauvery delta.

What does the rule provide for?

• It provides for constituting a seven member technical committee that would assist the authority to recommend to the government whether to omit or include industries under the Second Schedule provided in the Act within the Zone.
• The committee would be headed by the Agriculture Production Commissioner and the Secretary to the Government in the Agriculture Department would be ex-officio chairperson.

Background:

• Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed the Protected Agricultural Zone Development Bill, 2020 in February.
• The new Act declared the Cauvery delta region a Protected Special Agriculture Zone (PSAZ).
• It proposed to protect agriculture and prohibit Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIRs) and hydrocarbon projects in the delta region

Which regions are included in PSAZ?

• The proposed PSAZ comprises Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts and some blocks in Cuddalore and Pudukkottai districts.
• It, however, excluded Tiruchirappalli, Ariyalur and Karur districts and other parts of Cuddalore and Pudukottai, though they also fall in the delta zone.
• Farmers in these parts cultivate rice as their primary crop and pulses such as blackgram and greengram as their secondary crop. They also cultivate seasonal vegetables and fruits.

Need for legislation?

• In August 2018, the Central government approved unconventional hydrocarbons policy that permitted exploration and exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons such as shale oil/gas, coal bed methane (CBM), etc.
• This was a major concern in the Cauvery delta, a sight for gas exploration activities since 1985 that has adversely affecting farming and livelihood. Several farmer associations condemned the Union government order and staged protests.

What it intends to achieve?

• It establishes an authority to filter projects that can be permitted in agricultural lands.
• A report by the UN claims industrial development would eat into 3.3 million hectares of prime agricultural land by 2030 across the world.
• In India, a TERI study says India lost 2.5 per cent of its GDP in the year 2014-15 to land degradation.
• With climate change and development taking a toll on agriculture, policy decisions like PAZ become inevitable.