Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urges Anantapur farmers to go for large-scale horticulture

Anantapur: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu held a review meeting with district officials and District Collector Veera Pandian and SP G V G Ashok Kumar at the Sri Seven function hall here on Saturday. The meeting was held in-camera. However, according to sources, the Chief Minister's main focus was on converting all the rain-fed agriculture crops into horticulture crops by linking the same to drip irrigation.

He advised against using the meagre water resources for cultivation of paddy which is a luxurious affair in a district where water resources are scanty and rainfall less than the minimum. The thrust was on promotion of horticulture crops on a massive scale and boosting exports to other places. Every horticulture farmer must adopt micro-irrigation by using drip facility. He said since the HNSS Project is filling every village tank in the district, the farmers must adopt micro-irrigation for every horticulture crop. They should also shift from the traditional groundnut, paddy and similar such crops towards horticulture crops like sweet oranges, mangoes, papaya, custard apples, guava, pomegranates, figs, musk melon, water melon and even vegetables etc.

The district should transform into a horticulture hub and move away from traditional farming. Commercial crops like pulses and millets also should be grown as inter-crops for earning additional income. District Collector Veera Pandian gave a power point presentation on the district's demography, resources and its growth story including industrialisation potential with the advent of Kia Motors. The Chief Minister also reviewed on the implementation of irrigation projects including Handri Niva Sujala Sravanti irrigation project and it's execution by the contracting agency S R Projects Private Limited.

He also enquired about the status of all irrigation projects and the HLC modernisation works. He asked the District Collector to ensure that all village tanks in 63 mandals are filled with Krishna water. He also reviewed the functioning of Civil Supplies Department including on ration cards, pensions and housing programmes which are viewed by the government as game-changers. Micro Irrigation Project Director P Venkateshwarlu and Horticulture Deputy director Subba Rayudu were asked to give their presentation on their subjects. Joint collector Dilly Rao, DRO Subba Reddy and RDO Malala were among those who participated.