Amaravati: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu appealed to farmers not to be carried away by the false campaign of YSR Congress Party on the shortage of urea and fertilisers. He said that the YSRCP is resorting to false campaigns to create panic among farmers and for political mileage. He warned of serious action against those who resort to false campaigns using social media platforms. Speaking to the media at the Secretariat here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister appealed to farmers not to become partners of fake politics as the state government was committed for welfare of farmers by providing water security.

He said the state government remitted Rs 7,000 each to all the farmers recently under the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme.

At the same time, the Chief Minister appealed to farmers to prevent excess use of fertilisers and pesticides which may lead to health problems among people. He said the state government is considering providing subsidies to those farmers who minimise the usage of fertilisers and pesticides using drone technology.

He said some districts including Nellore, Tirupati and Palnadu are using huge quantities of urea while districts like Srikakulam, Alluri Sitharama Raju, Manyam and Vizianagaram districts consume less quantities of fertilisers and pesticides. Giving a Power Point presentation on availability of urea and fertilisers in all districts, the Chief Minister said that sufficient stocks are available in all the districts, but some people in the guise of farmers are trying to create panic among farmers by resorting to false campaigns on shortage of urea and fertilisers.

Citing the example of four YSR Congress party men of Krishna district who made a hue and cry in the guise of farmers, the Chief Minister said that the government is going to act tough on such persons. He instructed district collectors to monitor the distribution of urea and fertilisers daily to ensure uninterrupted supply of urea to every farmer. He said that as of Wednesday, Urea totaling 94,892 metric tonnes is available in the state and the central government has allotted another 53,000 metric tonnes. Minister for Agriculture K Atchennaidu and officials were present.