Five-Point Agritech Push To Power Farm Growth, Says CM

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh contributes nearly 10 per cent to the national Gross Domestic Product through agriculture, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said, underlining the sector’s central role in the state’s economy.

He told the state Assembly on Friday that the government was determined to complete house-warming ceremonies for 10 lakh houses by the end of this year, fulfilling a “long-cherished dream of the poor” to own a home.

Participating in the discussion on the housing and agriculture budgets, the CM informed the members that house-warming ceremonies have been conducted for nearly three lakh beneficiaries so far. By Ugadi this year, “we would complete the ceremonies for around three lakh houses.”

Targets have also been set to finish 2.26 lakh houses by June and another 2.10 lakh by September, he said.

Naidu noted that 2.20 lakh families in the state do not own land or house sites.

The government, he said, is taking steps to distribute free house sites — two cents in urban areas and three cents in rural regions — to all eligible beneficiaries. The Centre and the state are jointly committed to ensuring Housing for All, he asserted.

Turning to agriculture, Naidu said the sector would be strengthened through Agritech interventions. He spoke of a comprehensive five-point strategy focusing on water security, demand-driven crops, food processing, marketing and sustained government support. “Andhra Pradesh contributes nearly 10 per cent to the national gross agricultural output,” he said.

Highlighting the government’s support to farmers, Naidu said Rs 13,722 crore has been allocated for free power in 2025–26. The state currently has 22.5 lakh agricultural pump sets, and 69,000 new connections will be added this year.

Increased groundwater levels have led to electricity savings worth Rs 95 crore, he said.

Emphasising transparency in paddy procurement, Naidu said payments were being made within 24 hours, with Rs 10,816 crore directly credited to farmers’ accounts. The government has also cleared Rs 1,670 crore in pending dues left unpaid by the previous government.

The CM said investments worth Rs 14,230 crore have graced the food processing sector. Around 15 lakh farmers across 8,168 villages, he said, are practising natural farming, and the government aims to expand this to 50 lakh acres.

Naidu spoke of plans to transform Rayalaseema into a horticulture hub. With current horticulture production at 400 million metric tonnes, the target is to scale it up to 1,000 million metric tonnes under a Rs 30,000-crore cluster development plan.

Horticulture crops have expanded by over 20,000 hectares, contributing Rs 1,634 crore to the state’s GSDP growth.

Naidu said, “The government is supplying power to the aqua sector at Rs 1.50 per unit and plans to establish the world’s largest Cocoa City in Eluru, positioning Andhra Pradesh as a leading aquaculture and agri-processing powerhouse.”