VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the Agriculture Department officials to complete the enumeration of crop loss due to the recent untimely rains at the earliest. He also instructed the officials to ensure that the paddy procurement of Rabi season begins on April 15. At a review meeting on the agriculture sector on Wednesday, he underlined the need for continuous monitoring of farm operations to ensure that farmers are not subjected to undue suffering.
The officials informed Jagan that the list of farmers, who suffered crop loss due to the untimely rain, will be ready by the second week of April. They also informed him that 100 per cent e-cropping has been completed and a target has been set to distribute 10.5 lakh metric tonnes of quality fertilisers to farmers through Rythu Bharosa Kendras in 2023-24. Pesticides will be supplied to farmers through AP Agros.
Jagan instructed the officials to curb the inflow of spurious farm inputs into the market and ensure the supply of quality fertilisers and pesticides to farmers through RBKs. Highlighting the Polambadi programme to educate farmers in modern methods of cultivation, the officials said the cultivation cost of paddy, groundnut, cotton and maize declined by 15%, 15%, 12% and 5% respectively, while the crop yield of cotton, maize, groundnut and paddy increased by 16%, 15%, 12% and 9% respectively.
The results could be the first step in the direction of introducing complete natural farming methods, they said, adding that they are trying to get Good Agricultural Practices certification for 26 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
The CM gave the green signal for the distribution of agricultural machine tools to farmers in April, 500 drones in July, 1,500 drones by December, and sprayers between July and December. When the officials informed him that millet and organic clusters have been arranged in 19 districts as part of efforts to increase millet production in the State, he told them to concentrate on the marketing of millet and horticultural products.
They further informed him that the State has achieved 3.79 lahks MT of paddy production in the Rabi season of 2022-23, while it was 6.29 lakh MT in the 2022 Kharif season. Jagan instructed them to implement the plant doctor concept at the earliest by taking steps to conduct soil tests in March, April and May every year to prepare the farmers for the Kharif season by June, besides educating them on the crops to be cultivated for reaping a good yield.
The plant doctor concept should be implemented effectively and made accessible to farmers through RBKs, he stressed. Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Agri Mission Vice-Chairman MVS Nagi Reddy and other officials were present.