Govt committed to uplift farmers: Collector K Venkataramana Reddy

Tirupati: The government turned the agriculture into a profitable venture for farmers through various schemes and provided a total Rs one lakh crore financial support so far, said district collector K Venkataramana Reddy. He was speaking at the Rythu Dinotsavam coinciding with the birthday of former chief minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) held at RASS Krishi Vignana Kendra (KVK) in Karakambadi on Friday.

After paying rich floral tributes to the portrait of YSR, the collector said the state government through a slew of initiatives including free power supply for 9 hours, supply of seeds, fertilisers, providing minimum support price (MSP) to farmers produce, setting up Price Stabilization Fund (PSF), e-Crop and other measures made agriculture viable to farmers.

Rythu Bharosa Kendras along with farmers advisory committees attached to RBKs, functioning at village, mandal level providing required support to farmers in various aspects including modern methods of farming, efficient water and crop management helping farmers increase yield, he explained. Efforts are on for construction of multi-purpose facility centre godowns to enable the farmers stock their produce till they get good price, he said adding that the division level bankers meeting ensures crop loans to all eligible farmers including tenant farmers.

In addition, he said the farmers welfare scheme introduced by the government including YSR Rythu Bharosa-PM Kisan Samman, YSR Sunna Vaddi (Interest-free loan), Input subsidy, free crop insurance and YSR Yantra Seva Patham made the agriculture a celebration for farmers, the collector said.

Earlier, the collector visited the stalls set up by Agriculture and Animal Husbandry departments showcasing the achievements made in the two sectors benefiting farmers. District Agriculture Officer Dorasani, Fisheries official Srinivas Naik and RASS-KVK senior scientist Srinivasulu were present. Meanwhile Rythu Dinotsavam was organised by RBKs at various places in which awareness meetings, farmers interaction with scientists and other programmes were held.