VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has written three separate letters to Union Ministers Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Piyush Goyal, and Nirmala Sitharaman, urging immediate central action to resolve the severe economic crises hitting Andhra Pradesh’s aquaculture and tobacco sectors.
The Chief Minister said the skyrocketing production costs and intense international competition from heavily subsidised foreign markets have pushed the state’s aqua and Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco farmers into deep financial distress.
In his letter to Union Fisheries Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Naidu requested emergency clearance for domestic shrimp feed manufacturers to import Genetically Modified (GM) soybean meal.
Highlighting that surging domestic soybean prices have inflated operational costs for farmers, he noted that a similar temporary relaxation was successfully granted in 2021.
The Chief Minister clarified that GM soybean meal poses zero threat to native biodiversity or indigenous crop varieties as the processed meal cannot be used for cultivation. He further explained that Indian shrimp exports to the US, China, and Europe are facing severe headwinds due to low-cost production surges from Ecuador.
To structurally fortify the sector, Naidu urged the Union Minister to expedite the setting up of the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) regional office, training centre, and a public aquarium at Nekkallu village in the capital region of Amaravati.
Addressing Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Naidu pressed for immediate regulations on fish meal exports through the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
He pointed out that local feed manufacturers are struggling because domestic fish meal is being heavily exported under a 5% incentive scheme, and demanded that domestic aquaculture needs be met before allowing outbound shipments.
Additionally, the Chief Minister strongly advocated for the state’s tobacco growers, noting that FCV tobacco accounts for a massive 70% of India’s total tobacco exports and serves as the economic backbone for lakhs of agrarian families.
He pointed out that Indian exporters are currently losing their competitive edge in international markets because competing nations, such as Zimbabwe and Tanzania, heavily support their trade through extensive state subsidies and duty exemptions.
Finally, Naidu appealed to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for fiscal relief to ease severe working capital crunches.
He requested lowering the GST on aquaculture aerators from 18 per cent to 5 per cent and slashing the GST on unprocessed tobacco from 40 per cent to 28 per cent to ensure prompt payments to farmers.
On the credit front, the CM Chandrababu Naidu has urged the sanctioning of a one-time Rs 5 lakh top-up on Kisan Credit Cards for aqua farmers to absorb financial shocks, alongside the creation of a Rs 100 crore corpus fund through the NFDB to strengthen domestic seafood marketing.