ASR District to Push for Agriculture, Horticultural Expansion

Visakhapatnam:ASR joint collector Thirumani Sri Pooja on Friday asked officials to intensify efforts towards expanding agricultural and horticultural operations across the district.

Chairing a review meeting at the District Collector’s conference hall on Friday, she underscored the importance of soil health testing under expert guidance, introducing new crops on fertile lands, and ensuring that farmers receive fair market prices for their produce.

Sri Pooja directed agriculture officials to register every farmer of the district on the Andhra Pradesh Farmer Portal and ensure that the benefits of Annadata Sukhibhava scheme reach all eligible beneficiaries. She asked officials to make available the required urea available to farmers during the cropping season.

Highlighting the district’s suitability for horticulture, the joint collector encouraged officials to promote intercropping alongside primary crops and prioritise expansion of coffee plantations. She stressed that farmers should be encouraged to cultivate a diverse range of crops, including black pepper, ginger, turmeric, dragon fruit, avocado, litchi, strawberry, cashew, pineapple, mushrooms, custard apple, jackfruit, and oil palm, to secure year-round income.

Sri Pooja instructed village horticulture officers, agriculture assistants, and mandal agriculture officers to prepare comprehensive crop cultivation plans. She tasked the Marketing department with establishing mini-storage facilities at the mandal level to help farmers store their harvests. She highlighted awareness campaigns on government schemes and subsidies, apart from continuous farmer training programmes, to help farmers adopt modern agricultural practices.

Those who attended the review meeting included district Agriculture officer S.B.S. Nand, district Horticulture officer K. Balakarna, DRDA project director V. Murali, district Animal Husbandry officer M. Karunakar, and district Fisheries officer Srinivasa Rao.