NELLORE: TDP Politburo member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy lamented that untimely rains severely affected farmers across the State. Paddy, banana, maize, chilli and other crops were damaged on nearly four lakh acres in the State.
Addressing the media at NTR Bhavan in the city on Tuesday, Somireddy alleged that Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy had failed to visit the submerged fields to assess crop loss. He demanded that a white paper be released on the total allocation made and funds spent for the agriculture sector by the YSRC government.
The State government should pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to chilli, banana and mango farmers for the crop loss incurred by them. An ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh each should be paid to the kin of farmers who died in lightning strikes, he said.
Reacting to Kakani’s remarks, Somireddy informed that the previous TDP regime paid Rs 3,759 crore as input subsidy to farmers and the YSRC government has only paid Rs 1,191 crore input subsidy to them in the last four years.