KHAMMAM: As many as six lakh farmers in erstwhile Khammam district are eagerly waiting for Rythu Barosa as the Kharif season is going to end in one month.
The Congress made an assurance to farmers that after coming to power it will pay Rs 15,000 per acre per year under Rythu Bharosa (Rs 7,500 per acre in Khariff and an equal sum for Rabi) scheme. The previous BRS government used to pay Rs 10,000 per acre per year. But the Congress government paid Rs 5,000 per acre for the last Rabi season instead of assured Rs 7,500.
The government promised to pay Rs 7,500 for Kharif and another Rs 7,500 for Rabi but though Kharif season is coming to an end, it has not yet paid the amount.
Banoth Balu, a tribal farmer in Julurpad mandal said: “We have been waiting for Rythu Bharosa for investment in raising crops but the money has not yet been credited to our bank accounts.”
Most of the farmers in the erstwhile district are small and marginal and are unable to mobilis money for agriculture operations. They have been depending on Rythu Bharosa money to purchase pesticides, fertilizers and for ploughing land.
K Nagaraju, a marginal farmer in Dummagudem mandal said: “I am raising cotton in my one-acre land. I am finding it difficult in mobilsing money. Rythu Bharosa money has not yet been credited to my bank account. The bankers are not sanctioning loans and private lenders prefer to give loans to big farmers,” he rued.
He said he has high hopes on Rythu Bharosa. “But the government has not paid the amount yet,” he said.
Former Khammam MP Nama Nageswara Rao said that when BRS was in power, Rythu Bhandu amounts was promptly credited to farmers’ accounts. “But, after the Congress came to power, the farmers are suffering. The state government has cheated the farmers,” he alleged.
District Agriculture Joint Director Babu Rao said that after completion of the implementation of crop loan waiver, Ryhtu Bharosa money would be credited to farmers’ accounts.