Tamil Nadu has emerged as the topper in coverage of area under micro-irrigation (MI) this year. Of about 3.64 lakh hectares brought under MI, Tamil Nadu accounts for around 1.39 lakh hectares, accounting for 38% of the total coverage in the country, according to the website of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, a scheme aimed at improving on-farm water use efficiency through a number of measures such as MI. Gujarat comes next to Tamil Nadu with a coverage of 77,858 hectares and Andhra Pradesh, 52,027 hectares. Maharashtra comes fourth with around 36,831 hectares and Uttar Pradesh with 25,680 hectares. The Central government sanctioned the installation of 17,500 solar agricultural pump sets in the State. This has been done under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Uttham Mahabhiyan (PM-Kusum)scheme
