The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed agriculture and civil supplies ministers, including senior officials to ensure that farmers do not sell their paddy for less than the minimum support price. Agriculture minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy and civil supplies minister Karumuri Nageswara Rao were asked to undertake the purchase in a systematic method by availing of the e-cropping data in order to ensure farmers’ benefit.
As Andhra Pradesh registered a good rainfall of 781.7 mm from June to November, around 186 metric tones of food grains are expected from the Kharif crop. Details of the e-cropping registratiins for farmers were also discussed to avail of benefits. For the process, biometric authentication for village agriculture assistants and village revenue officers was completed, while the eKYC of farmers was completed upto 93%.
The chief minister directed officials to prepare for the forthcoming sowing season and keep seeds, fertilisers and other farm inputs ready for the rabi Crop that is likely to be cultivated on around 22.92 lakh hectares. The state directorate also committed to remit the input subsidy including zero-interest crop loans to farmers’ accounts on the 29th of this month. Jagan devised a plan to ensure that each Rythu Bharosa Kendra has a drone available, within the next couple of years.
Jagan also wanted to promote the ‘Plant Doctor’ concept and directed the officials to make arrangements to launch it in March next year. He asked the officials to ensure the availability of soil testing tools at all RBKs so that it could help farmers determine the type of soil and the quantum of fertilizers to use.