Use tech to reduce losses AP CM to ryots

​Ongole: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked the farmers to utilise technology to reduce losses and make agriculture profitable. He distributed debt redemption certificates as a part of second installment of loan waiver programme here Wednesday.

The government waived off Rs1.5 lakh agriculture loans to all farmers in the State. In a total Rs 24,000 crore loan waiver, the State government sanctioned Rs 7,565 crore, previously as the first installment. In the second installment of loan payments that started from Wednesday, the government released Rs 3,500 crore including 10 per cent interest on the loan amount.

In Prakasam district, the loan waiver burden was estimated at Rs 1,957.89 crore and Rs 602 crore were released as first and one time settlement to 4,59,377 families. The officials identified 1,54,378 families for second installment of waiver for Rs 343.54 crore. Additionally 2,192 horticulture farmer families from the district received Rs 6.877 crore as relief from loans.

Speaking on the occasion the Chief Minister said that they were implementing the scheme even though the State was suffering from financial crisis.

With the loan waiver scheme, we are giving relief to nearly 97 per cent of the farmers. I empathise and understand the problems of farmers and want to make agriculture a profitable profession. As a part of this endeavour, we are ensuring continuous supply of power, even though there is a shortage of 22.5 million units,” he stated.

He announced that the State government would replace all existing pump sets in the fields, with the new ones and would ensure their maintenance for five years.

We will introduce technology to farmers, with which they could easily switch on or off the motors from their home. We have introduced the soil tests and distribution of micro nutrients to the farmers.

With this, the farmers and the government can know what nutrient is deficient in the soil and how much quantity is needed to enrich it. To lessen the burden on the farmers, those nutrients will be supplied at 50 per cent discount,” he added.

Naidu called upon the farmers to incorporate mechanisation in agriculture, apart from making best use of water. “Water is life. One centimeter of rain all over the State gives 57 tmc ft of water, which is enough to cultivate more than 4 lakh acre of land. We should make the land as a reservoir and start best utilisation of available water through methods like drip irrigation,” he advised.

The Chief Minister said that they would be introducing rain guns in dry land crops, where rain plays vital part on production. He encouraged the fathers to adapt to multi crop system.

The demand for various crops changes with the time. The farmers must start multi-crop farming and get interim profits. We have statistics that horticulture is giving more revenue than agriculture, but raising animals and aqua culture paying more than horticulture. So the farmers must not depend only on the regular crops and start horticulture and raise animals to gain more income,” he stressed.

Promising the Polavaram project to be completed by 2018, he said that Veligonda project would be completed in a phased manner. He also promised to initiate steps to make Ramayapatnam port, a reality. Earlier, he attended the 150 year celebrations of the Jewett Memorial Baptist Church. Ministers Sidda Raghava Rao, Ravela Kishore Babu, district collector Sujatha Sharma and officials were present.