Yeruvaka celebrations from today

Visakhapatnam: Farmers, along with their family members celebrate Yeruvaka as a festival. After performing puja to cattle, agricultural tools and the land, they start ploughing the fields to kick-start the kharif cultivation.

Over 21,890 quintals of seeds, including paddy and groundnuts, distributed to the farmers in the district to kick-start the kharif season-2018. The government also distributed 18,000 quintals of seeds on subsidy to the farmers for kharif cultivation.

Explaining about the preparedness of 2018-kharif season, Collector Pravin Kumar said that the district administration is providing all sorts of help to the farmers.

According to Telugu calendar, the farmers will kick-start the kharif cultivation works after performing special rituals in the name of ‘Yeruvaka,’ on every ‘Jyesta Suddha Pournima’ (full moon day in June). This month, the ‘Jyesta Suddha Pournima’ falls on June 28 and the state government announced the festival as a government festival and directed the district administration to celebrate it at all the villages, the Collector said.

“The district administration supplied 261 metric tonnes of zinc sulfate, 127 metric tonnes of gypsum and several other micro- nutrients to strengthen the soil in the district. The agriculture department already conducted 34,407 soil tests and issued cards to 2,32,867 farmers informing about the strength of the soil,” Pravin Kumar said.

This year, 703 Rythu Rathams and 902 agricultural tools distributed to the farmers. Meanwhile, as per the government directive, agricultural loans to the tune of Rs 497.01 crore waived to 3,17,969 farmers so far, the Collector added.

Minister Ch Ayyannapatrudu in Narsipatnam constituency, Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao in Bheemili constituency and other MLAs at their respective constituencies would inaugurate the ‘Yeruwaka’ programme, Pravin Kumar said.

CM to inaugurate Eruvaka in SKLM today

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will inaugurate ‘Eruvaka’ programme in Amudalavalasa mandal on Thursday. According to a press release from Collector K Dhanunjaya Reddy here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister will reach Ravikantipeta village in Amudalavalsa mandal by 10.35 am and will inaugurate ‘Eruvaka’ programme which is a symbolic programme for beginning of kharif works.

Later, he will reach the NTR Greenfield Stadium at Thimmapuram in the same mandal where he will inspect stalls of various departments and address a public meeting at the stadium and leave Srikakulam by 1 pm.