VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the officials to activate agriculture advisory boards and create awareness on all aspects to the board members ensuring their support to farmers at all times starting from crop planning.
Addressing a review meeting on distribution of PDS rice and procurement of paddy at farm gates through RBKs, at his camp office on Friday, the Chief Minister said Agriculture advisory boards should function in coordination with the RBKs and added that women farmers should be involved in all the activities.
He said the civil supplies minister will monitor the responsibilities and functioning of these committees and added that no farmer should be troubled in this regard. The advisory boards should inform the farmers about the crops to be cultivated and which will be procured, he added.
Officials were asked to inform the farmers on alternative crops to be grown if paddy is not profitable due to various reasons and instructed the officials to ensure the income of farmers is not reduced.
“District Collectors should procure gunny bags if necessary and use the meters available at RBKs to measure moisture content during paddy procurement,” he said.
The Chief Minister asked officials not to send paddy to the nearest miller for saving transportation cost and added that district should be taken as a unit and paddy should be sent to mills on that basis. Jagan said paddy procurement should be done by the time as promised earlier and the whole process has to be done by the government.
He said it is the the civil supplies department’s responsibility to supply the seeds as requested by the farmers and added that the agriculture department should ensure farmers are not cheated by buying seeds.
The Chief Minister said both the departments should work together from e-cropping for marketing the crop. He said there should not be any mistake in door delivery of PDS rice and added that mobile dispensing units should ensure no one is missed.
“The distribution of rice should be completed in stipulated time,” he said and asked the department to procure required weighing scales. He directed the officials not to compromise on the quality of the rice.