VIZIANAGARAM: A veterinary college and a veterinary poly clinic will be set up at Cheepurupalle, Agriculture minister P Pulla Rao announced during the ‘Polam Pilostondi’ programme at Pedavemali village in Gantyada mandal in the district. A seed purification centre will be opened, while a horticulture research station in 200 acres would also be set up in the district, the minister said.
Pulla Rao said that the veterinary college would be known as NTR College of Veterinary Sciences.
Pulla Rao announced that farmers would get `2 lakh interest-free loan for six months. For growing crops in low fertile lands, seeds and fertilisers would be supplied at 50 per cent subsidy. An agreement was signed with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT) to increase crop yield by 10 per cent, the minister said. He also promised to reduce investment cost in agriculture by linking it with the NREGS. Vehicles would be supplied for transporting vegetables, and farm loan waiver would be implemented. Bankers would release the list on Sept 25 and 26 and the loan amount would be deposited in their respective accounts, the minister reiterated.
Collector MM Naik said that though paddy was grown over 1.5 lakh hectares last year, it was not procured properly. This year more procurement centres would be set up under the Indira Kranti Patham (IKP) and farmers would also get minimum support price for their produce, Naik promised. On the discrepancies in pattadar passbooks, the collector said all the mistakes would be corrected in the passbooks which would be seeded to Aadhaar cards. Veterinary director Kondala Rao, said that fishermen cooperative societies, set up under Rashtriya Krishi Vidyan Yojana, would get fishlings at 50 per cent subsidy.