Agri sector facing crisis in State: Congress

Kadapa (YSR District): Senior Congress leader and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) media chairman Dr N Tulasi Reddy has said that agriculture sector in Andhra Pradesh was facing crisis. Speaking to mediapersons at Vempalle on Sunday, Tulasi Reddy said that for the last few years, the crop area has drastically reduced as farmers gave up to cultivation due to lack of minimum support price (MSP) of their produce.

He pointed out that it was proposed to cultivate crops in 57.30 lakh acres across the State in 2022-23 but the actual area of cultivation has gone down to 46.52 lakh acres. The cultivated area has gone down by 19 per cent during the rabi season due to lack of support from government to agriculture, the Congress leader said.

He said this kind of situation was prevailing in the State due to poor allocation of funds in the Budget for agriculture and irrigation sectors.

he PCC leader has recalled that 15 per cent of funds in the Budget were allocated for irrigation sector during the Congress regime. The allocation has gone down to 9 per cent during the TDP regime and 2.5 per cent under the YSRCP rule.

He demanded that the government allocate more funds for agriculture and irrigation sectors and ensure steps for providing MSP for produce. He also demanded that the government withdraw VAT on diesel and road cess.