VIJAYAWADA: Hitting back at YSRCP chief and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy over his criticism of the State’s agriculture policy, Agriculture Minister Kinjarapu Atchannaidu on Sunday accused the opposition leader of spreading deliberate falsehoods regarding government expenditure and developmental initiatives in Rayalaseema.
Addressing reporters, Atchannaidu said Jagan was confusing market-driven investments with direct State budget allocations.
Clarifying the financial framework of the Global Horticulture Hub under the Poorvodya scheme, the Agriculture Minister explained that the State aims to mobilise Rs 40,000 crore through public sector channels and Rs 60,000 crore via private investments, rather than funding the entire Rs 1 lakh crore strictly through the State exchequer.
“Sitting in his Tadepalli palace and playing video games, Jagan has zero understanding of ground realities or farmer welfare,” Atchannaidu remarked, challenging the former chief minister to a crop-by-crop debate on market intervention, input subsidies, and crop insurance.
The Agriculture Minister noted that Andhra Pradesh’s horticulture sector recorded a 21 per cent growth rate in 2024–25 under the coalition government, compared to just 9 per cent during the YSRCP’s five-year tenure.
He added that horticulture coverage expanded by 71,000 hectares in a single year under the present administration, whereas the previous regime managed only 83,000 hectares over five years.
He detailed the government’s market intervention efforts to ensure better price to farm produce, stating that against a Market Stabilisation Fund allocation of Rs 300 crore for 2025–26, over Rs 800 crore has already been spent to support distress prices for tobacco (Rs 271 crore), mango (Rs 261 crore), onion (Rs 125 crore), cocoa (Rs 14 crore) and tomato (Rs 12 crore).
He stated that input subsidies for paddy were hiked from Rs 17,000 to Rs 25,000 per hectare, disbursing Rs 310 crore to 2 lakh farmers, while cleared seed company arrears and pending ex gratia payments for farmer suicide victims left unpaid by the previous government were being systematically processed.
