VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed the Agriculture Department to devise crop-specific cultivation plans aligned with national and international market demands.
He emphasised that informing farmers well in advance about which crops to raise and their acreage, will balance demand and supply, preventing losses. Only high-demand crops should be cultivated to ensure profits to farmers, he said.
On Thursday, the Chief Minister held a teleconference with officials and ministers at his camp office to review issues concerning tobacco, cocoa, mango and grain farmers.
He instructed RTGS and Agriculture Department officials to scientifically monitor global and national market trends, crop yields, and developments.
He also urged the Cabinet Sub-Committee to address both short-term and long-term challenges faced by farmers. The committee has been expanded with the inclusion of Ministers Gottipati Ravikumar (Energy) and Nimmala Ramanaidu (Water Resources).
The Chief Minister directed the officials to ensure companies purchase cocoa stocks from farmers at Rs 500 per kg. If prices fall below the mark, the government should directly procure the stocks from farmers. The officials informed that 1,200 to 1,500 metric tonnes of cocoa is currently in stock, with 600 metric tonnes held by farmers, which needs to be purchased.
Naidu also instructed the officials to facilitate the purchase of approximately 20,000 million kg of HD Burley tobacco held by farmers. To prevent losses due to low demand, a crop holiday for HD Burley tobacco has been announced this year.
He directed officials to collect precise stock data through an app. A dedicated cell under the Tobacco Board has been set up to record daily purchase details. The Chief Minister has already written to the Union Commerce Minister to include HD Burley and White Burley varieties in the list of Tobacco Board. He plans to discuss farmers’ issues with Union Ministers during his upcoming Delhi visit.
To address the lack of orders for mango pulp, Naidu asked the officials to ensure pulp processing units purchase the produce from farmers immediately. The officials noted that excess old stocks with the companies and the lack of bank loans are hindering new purchases. The Chief Minister instructed them to facilitate bank loans for the companies.
He also highlighted that the 40% GST on pure juices has slowed mango purchases and decided to negotiate with the Centre to reduce GST. To increase mango pulp juice consumption, Naidu suggested including it in the mid-day meal scheme for students and offering it as prasadam to devotees at Tirumala through the TTD.
The Chief Minister also instructed the officials to promote setting up of more tomato processing units to ensure that farmers get fair prices for their produce. The officials informed that grain procurement is going on smoothly, and even wet grain is also being purchased at support price.
The review meeting was attended by Ministers K Atchannaidu, Nadendla Manohar, Ravi Kumar, Ramanaidu and Payyavula Keshav.