TIRUPATI: Around 227.71 hectares of fruit crops (91.71 hectares of sweet orange and 136 hectares of acid lime) were damaged in the incessant rains that lashed Kadapa, Nellore, Prakasam, Kurnool and Chittoor districts last November, said Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Replying to a starred question raised by YSRC MPs MVV Satyanarayana and Kuruva Gorantla Madhav regarding the extent of lime crop damage and the steps taken to support the farmers, the Union minister stated that the State government is primarily responsible for providing relief measures to farmers during the events of natural calamities.
For undertaking relief measures, funds are available with a State government in the form of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF); any additional financial assistance above SDRF can be drawn from National Disaster Response Fund(NDRF) for natural calamities of a severe nature, request of which shall be approved following a memorandum received from the state, Tomar added.
Tomar further added as per the information given by the AP government, Rs 18.34 lakh was released for 126 farmers for sweet orange and Rs 27.20 lakh for 272 farmers for acid lime through direct benefit transfer (DBT) by the Revenue Disaster Management Department of the Government of AP.
With regard to the question of whether the lack of remunerative prices in the last 7 to 8 years led farmers to avoid lime cultivation, the minister said the area under cultivation of the crops in the last six years increased on the basis of information provided by the State government.
“The area of acid lime has increased from 34,264 ha (2015-16) to 43,044 hectares (2020-21). Similarly, the area for sweet oranges has increased from 77,490 (2015-16) to at least 1.10 lakh hectares (2020-21),” the minister explained. Tomar pointed out that 7,705 hectares have been covered under sweet orange and acid lime cultivation in AP under the Area Expansion component of the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture scheme since 2016.