The Tamil Nadu agricultural minister Veerapandi S Arumugham requested the centre to allocate Rs 325 crore under the National Calamities Relief Fund for assisting the farmers who had not taken up cultivation due to drought. The minister also asked for an additional 800 MW of electricity to provide for farm irrigation with an additional allocation of Rs 125 crore under the National Agriculture Development Programme for 2009-2010.The minister also said that the districts received only scanty rainfall in the south west monsoon season resulting in only 7.26 lakh hectares being brought under cultivation in the kharif season as against 19.28 lakh hectares last year.