CHENNAI: State cooperative minister KR Periyakaruppan on Tuesday informed that Chief Minister MK Stalin will soon make an announcement on the issue of procuring sugarcane from farmers to be distributed as a part of Pongal gift package. Talking to media persons after holding a discussion with zonal joint registrars and officials of cooperative banks here, Periyakaruppan said that the chief minister was discussing the matter and an announcement would be made soon. He was asked about the likelihood of procuring sugarcane from farmers for distribution as a part of the Pongal gift pack. Claiming that the volume of crop loans disbursed to farmers has increased exponentially in the DMK regime, the minister, according to a release issued late Tuesday night, said that the average annual crop loan disbursed in the previous AIADMK regime was only Rs 6,064 crore, but the Rs 10,000 crore mark was breached in 2021-22 after the DMK formed government.