VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has issued instructions to activate agriculture advisory boards and procure paddy at right at ‘Kallalu’ (farm gates) through Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs).
Conducting a review on agriculture operations at his CM camp office at Tadepalli on Friday, the Chief Minister directed agriculture and civil supplies departments to work in coordination for direct procurement of paddy from farmers. He directed that agriculture advisory boards support farmers in all stages right from planning. He said farmers should be informed on alternative crops to be grown if paddy is not profitable due to various reasons, and the officials should ensure the income of farmers does not fall on account of this switchover. The advisory boards should function in coordination with RBKs and added that women farmers should be involved in all the activities.
Reddy said there should be no involvement of millers in paddy procurement and officials should keep tabs on farm produce going to the millers. He said District Collectors should procure gunny bags, if necessary, and added that metres are available at RBKs to measure moisture content during paddy procurement. He said the procurement should be completed within the specified time as promised earlier and the whole process should be carried out by the government only.
The Chief Minister asked the civil supplies and the marketing departments to coordinate to ensure supply of quality seeds to farmers at RBKs. He particularly asked the former to conduct efficient door delivery of PDS rice to beneficiaries.
The officials informed the government set a target to procure 45.2 lakh tonnes of paddy in this (2020-21) Rabi season. It is 15 per cent more compared to last year. They said production of 65.23 lakh tons of paddy is estimated this year and they were procuring 50,000 tonnes of paddy per day, which would be increased to 70,000 tonnes soon.
Civil Supplies Minister Kodali Venkatswara Rao, Agriculture Special Chief Secretary Poonam Malakondaiah, Civil Supplies Commissioner Kona Sasidhar, Civil Supplies Managing Director A. Surya Kumari, Agriculture Commissioner H. Arun Kumar and other officials were present.
