SIDDIPET/HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday released Rs 3,600 crore for disbursal of the first instalment of Rythu Bharosa benefits to farmers in the ongoing Rabi season.
According to officials, the decision will benefit over 70 lakh farmers who own up to one acre of land. The amount will be credited into the accounts of farmers from Monday.
The total outlay of this scheme is around Rs 9,000 crore per season. The government will be releasing the remaining Rs 5,400 crore in two instalments in the next 45 days.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister inaugurated a palm oil factory, built with Rs 300 crore funds, at Narmetta in Siddipet district. He also laid the foundation stone for an oil refinery unit to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore.
Speaking on the occasion, Revanth urged farmers to adopt crop diversification to enhance their income.
“Relying solely on paddy cultivation to increase your income is not right. Farmers should also consider cultivating commercial crops,” he said, adding that his government has been actively encouraging crop diversification.
Assuring farmers of better prices for their produce if they shift to new crops, he suggested that cultivators prioritise millets, leafy vegetables and oil palm, noting that oil palm cultivation significantly boosts income.
Referring to Ankapur in Nizamabad district where he said every family once bought a Maruti car solely through agricultural profits, he expressed his desire to see every panchayat developed on the lines of Ankapur so that every farmer can afford to own a car.
The chief minister, meanwhile, directed Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao to prepare a plan to educate farmers on switching from paddy cultivation to oil palm, vegetable and orchard farming.
He also urged Nageswara Rao as well as Health Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha to look into the possibility of establishing a palm oil factory in Kodangal.
Intercrops for additional revenues
Addressing concerns over the four-year gestation period for oil palm cultivation, the chief minister announced that both the Centre and state government will provide financial assistance to farmers during this period. He encouraged farmers to grow vegetables and other crops as intercrops within oil palm plantations to earn additional revenue.
Rebutting BRS leader and local MLA T Harish Rao’s claim that Siddipet is being discriminated against by the current government, Revanth said:
“I don’t discriminate against any constituency. Our government expedited the construction of this factory, starting in 2024. This has been built for the benefit of farmers, not for Harish Rao.”
Hitting back at the BRS leader, he said: “Let’s compare funds given to Kodangal and Siddipet during the 10-year rule of BRS. Then we will know who actually adopted a discriminatory attitude.”
“We could have moved the factory to Kodangal. But we completed the works and established the factory in Siddipet itself because of its central location,” he added.
The CM urged the people of Siddipet “who have supported one family since 1985 to give someone else a chance” in the next elections.
Warning of potential fertiliser shortage due to ongoing wars, he asked the agriculture minister to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure a higher urea quota for the state and to seek the cooperation of Telangana BJP MPs in this regard.
He insisted that urea produced in Karimnagar district should be allocated to local farmers.
Besides Nageswara Rao and Rajanarsimha, the other ministers who attended the programme were Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar, Vivek Venkatswamy, Medak BJP MP M Raghunandan Rao, Government Advisor Sudarshan Reddy and Rajya Sabha MP Vem Narender Reddy.