HYDERABAD: Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao on Monday said said that the government would soon make a statement on the compensation to be paid to farmers for crops damaged by the recent untimely rains.
Addressing a Rythu Mahotsavam in Nizamabad, the minister also said that the Rythu Bharosa amounts would be deposited in the bank accounts of remaining beneficiaries at the earliest.
“Sorry, we were unable to deposit the Rythu Bharosa amounts by March 31 as announced earlier. Despite financial constraints, we have waived Rs 33,000 crore crop loans. The Rythu Bharosa amounts too will be deposited in the bank accounts of farmers shortly,” he said.
The Agriculture minister said that the farmers can achieve high yields with low inputs by using latest technology and organic farming. While thanking the Union government for establishing the turmeric board in Nizamabad, he requested the Centre to start turmeric-based industries in the district.
Nageswara Rao, meanwhile, assured the local that an agriculture college would be set up in Nizamabad district after consulting Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
Rythu Mahotsav stalls a big hit with farmers
A large number of farmers visited the stalls arranged in Nizamabad as part of the Rythu Mahotsav. Modern agricultural tools, high yielding seeds, cattle and food products were displayed in around 150 stalls to create awareness among the farmers.
Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, meanwhile, said that there was a need to organise Rythu Mahotsavams in every district.
Speaking about irrigation projects, he said: “Tender process would be completed by the end of this month for desliting works to be taken up in Nizamsagar and Sriram Sagar projects. Once these works were completed, an additional aycut of one lakh acres would be irrigated.”
He also said that the pending works in 20, 21 and 22 packages of Kaleshwaram and Guthpa lift irrigation scheme would be completed soon.
Uttam alleged that the previous BRS government spent Rs 1.25 lakh on Kaleshwaram project and wasted public money.
“Though the BRS government spent Rs 1.81 lakh crore on irrigation sector, it did not benefit the people,” the minister alleged.
“The Congress government, without using Kaleshwaram water, produced 281 lakh tonnes of paddy in Kharif and Rabi seasons,” he claimed.
District in-charge Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and others were present on the occasion.