VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials of the agriculture and allied sectors to focus on ensuring good prices for crops and agriculture products by encouraging competitiveness in the procurement of the produce.
Reviewing progress pertaining to agriculture infrastructure in the State on Friday, October 8, 2021, the Chief Minister said competitiveness among the players in the agriculture market will fetch better prices for the agriculture products and the farmers will get good returns for their produce.
The officials were instructed to initiate market intervention measures whenever they find farmers suffering from disappointing prices in the market. He stressed the effective and aggressive utilisation of Price Stabilization Funds to ensure benefit to the farmers. “Let there be no farmer, who is suffering in the State,” he stressed
Pointing out that the concept of Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) is being praised by all across the country, he said, fertilizers, pesticides and seeds of good quality are available at better prices in RBKs. The CM also instructed the officials to ensure farmers receive the orders once placed in RBKs
The CM said some vested interests are propagating false information on RBKs. The officials said RBKs will act as sub-dealers from the next Rabi season and it will be more beneficial to farmers. The CM instructed the officials to set up community hiring centres at locations where paddy is being cultivated.
Officials were instructed to encourage farmers to cultivate alternative crops like millets instead of paddy and suggested that incentives be provided to farmers who cultivate alternate crops and at the same time processing plants too should be set up at such places. The officials informed him that seed-cum-millet processing units are being set up at 33 places and 20 units will be operational by December 20, and a target has been set to have all the units functional by March next year.
During review on dairy units and Jagananna Pala Velluva, officials explained to the CM that the BMCs identified in the order of priority will be completed by December. They said milk collection was on the rise in the districts where the Jagananna Pala Velluva programme is being carried out.
The CM said false information is being propagated on Jagananna Pala Velluva programme and added that Amul is not a private company, but a cooperative, which was being operated by farmers to whom the profits are being passed on and added that conditions were created to increase the milk procurement price after Amul entered the market.
The officials explained to the CM about the progress of works related to setting up food processing units and the latter directed the officials to expedite the works. With regard to fishing harbours in Juvvaladinne, Nizampatnam, Machilipatnam and Uppada, the officials said works are in progress and will be completed by July next year.
Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kannababu, Agriculture Special Chief Secretary Poonam Malakondaiah, Agriculture Marketing Principal Secretary Y Madhusudan Reddy, Food Processing, Industries and Commerce Secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena, Finance Secretary N Gulzar and others were present.