VIJAYAWADA: Directing officials to take proactive measures to keep inflation under tight control and ensure essential commodities remain affordable for the common man, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday ordered a shift toward predictive crop cultivation, production planning, and targeted market intervention based on prior demand assessments.
Chairing a review meeting on agriculture and allied sectors at his camp office, the Chief Minister instructed departmental heads to analyse the root causes of inflation, evaluate whether farm output matches actual market demand, and closely analyse supply chain conditions to take timely corrective measures.
Emphasising market intervention to prevent price hikes, Naidu directed officials to identify specific crops and regions requiring state support.
He ordered the strict enforcement of Minimum Support Prices (MSP) declared by the Centre across the state and instructed officers to encourage farmers to cultivate those designated crops.
He also suggested entering into buy-back agreements with farmers where necessary while fully deploying state procurement and supply networks, including OilFed, MarkFed, Rythu Bazars, and ration depots. Outlining the operational strategy, Naidu stated, “Move to production only after predicting demand, and align market planning accordingly.”
To ease household financial burdens, the Chief Minister directed the supply of nearly 60 essential commodities through Rythu Bazars and ration depots, announcing that essential items such as onions, red gram (kandi pappu), and palm oil will soon be made available through these channels.
He instructed agriculture officials to explore cultivating onions and chillies in non-traditional districts beyond their conventional belts, gather localised cropping data through Rythu Seva Kendras (RSKs), assess total onion requirement against current availability, and project price trends in advance.
He added that farmers should be encouraged to grow required crops through the supply of subsidised seeds and farm machinery, while steps must be taken to ensure adequate fodder availability so milk production remains unaffected across the state.
Targeting uncultivated land, Naidu ordered rainfed crop cultivation across 8.61 lakh hectares in the State.
