VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday advised officials to provide certifications to organic producers to help them get good prices and announced that the YSR Agri Testing Labs would be launched in December.
The Chief Minister asked officials to initiate steps for betterment of services in RBKs and get ISO certification. At a review meeting on agriculture, the CM asked official agencies to encourage millets cultivation as it is more profitable compared to paddy cultivation.
Jagan said the officials must explain to farmers that cultivation of millets would give them good returns. Also, ensure that they get better remunerative prices for their crops, he said.
As regards the Agricultural Advisory Board meetings, the CM asked officials to resolve the issues brought up by these boards and help farmers overcome difficulties. The officials informed the CM that over one lakh farmers are behind the agriculture advisory boards.
Reviewing the performance of the Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs), the chief minister said fertilizers, pesticides and seeds sought by the farmers should be made available at the RBKs within the stipulated time and the quality should be ensured. A system should be in place to resolve the farmers' issues directly through the RBK centers by using Artificial Intelligence, he said.
Jagan advised the officials to create awareness among farmers on natural farming. Hire buildings on rental basis for setting up small godowns to store seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, he said.
The chief minister said there should be continuous monitoring and review of the performance of RBKs. The YSR Agri-Testing Labs must be launched in December this year.
As for the YSR Polambadi programme, the CM said the government is conducting a Polambadi programme on 15 types of crops and asserted that the schedule of farming activities should be displayed at all RBKs. Besides these, he emphasized on the need to get certification for organic agricultural products and asked the authorities to ensure farmers get a better price for such products.
The chief minister stressed on e-cropping bookings and said farmers must be given a physical receipt along with digital acknowledgment, listing out all e-crop details. The entire process must be done in a transparent manner and officials must be cautious during the registration.
In addition to making heavy machinery available at the Community Hiring Centers, officials must ensure all the necessary farming tools are available to the farmers at the RBKs by the next Rabi season.
He advised officials to fill the 2038 vacant posts in village secretariats with agriculture assistants.
Besides these, the Chief Minister asked officials to replace a dysfunctional transformer with a new one immediately, and told them to study the causes of transformer burning and load issues. Farmers have no objection in fixing meters, as these would help them know the extent of their power usage and this would increase the accountability among the officials.
He said the government is spending a lot for providing quality power to farmers by strengthening the feeders and also bringing in a 10,000 MW solar project for uninterrupted free power supply and free electricity to farmers.
