VIJAYAWADA: Reiterating that the State can prosper when the agriculture sector is on the right track and farmers prosper, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said in the past one year, his government has made several efforts to make the lives of the farmers better.
Elaborating on various measures taken to address problems of the farmers and make agriculture and allied sectors profitable, the Chief Minister asserted Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs), to be inaugurated on May 30, will be a game-changer in village economy.
Addressing farmers across the State on the second day of Mana Palana-Mee Suchana on Tuesday, he said they drafted the YSRC election manifesto keeping the welfare of farmers in mind.
The proposed Janata Bazaars will provide a perfect market for the farmers and the government will initiate competition by procuring 30 per cent of the produce, he added.
“Farmgate marketing strategy will eliminate middlemen and RBKs will provide government-certified quality seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to the farmers. Furthermore, they will be provided crop loans and insurance. The State government will intervene if farmers don’t get MSP announced for the crop before cultivation. Dedicated Joint Collectors for RBKs have been appointed,” Jagan said.
He said the farmers are most affected by production cost, natural calamities and lack of remunerative prices for their produce. Only when these three problems are dealt with, the farmers stand to benefit. “Our strategy is how to overcome these problems and help the farmers, of whom, 50 per cent have around 1.25 acre and 70 per cent have less than one hectare land,” he said.
After calculating the cost of production, the government has decided to implement Rythu Bharosa by giving Rs 13,500 as farm investment. It will take care of 80 per cent of the production cost.
“The amount should be given at the time when the farmers need it the most,” he said, adding that it is an effort to save farmer from debt trap.
In 2019-20, Rs 6,534 crore was credited to unencumbered bank accounts of 46.69 lakh farmers. “I am surprised that the former TDP government, which promised Rs 87,612 crore farm loan waiver, failed to live up to its promise and waived less than `15,000 crore during its five-year regime,” Jagan said.
“About Rs 2,200 crore was spent for market intervention in the last eight months to bail out farmers from trouble.”
On nine-hour free power supply, Jagan said the scheme, started by his father, was diluted by successive governments.
“The annual cost comes to around Rs 49,000 per head. We have cleared Rs 8,645 crore dues of the previous government. About 82 per cent of feeders are ready to supply power during daytime and the remaining will be ready by next Rabi. Around Rs 1,700 crore was spent on the much-needed infrastructure,” he explained. As promised, 1.2 lakh aqua farmers are being supplied power at Rs 1.5 per unit, by bearing Rs 700 crore subsidy burden.
The government has decided to introduce a free insurance scheme. “The government will pay the premium on behalf of the farmers. All they have to do is to opt for e-cropping and pay just Re 1. About Rs 1,270 crore was already paid to the insurance firm as premium. Interest-free loans will be paid to farmers if they repay promptly,” he said.