VIJAYAWADA: Agriculture minister Kurasala Kannababu on Tuesday assured that state government will help and take care of farmers who have lost their crops due to floods following Cyclone Gulab, which has severely affected North Andhra, Krishna and the two Godavari districts.
Accusing opposition Telugu Desam and Jana Sena of being opportunistic at this critical juncture, he pointed out that Jagan Mohan Reddy government has already ordered respective district collectors to enumerate damage and take required measures to rescue distressed farmers.
Addressing a press conference, the minister said as per preliminary estimates, Gulab Cyclone has destroyed 1.56 lakh acres of crops, especially in both Godavari and Krishna districts.
Refuting Telugu Desam leaders’ allegations, Kannababu said the then TD government had procured only 11.22 lakh MT of crops during five years of its rule at a cost of Rs 3,921 crore. But the current government has already spent Rs 6,454 crore while procuring 19.39 lakh MT of crops during last two years. Agriculture and allied sectors have achieved a growth of 37.27 percent in the last decade. However, during TD’s rule, it had declined from 8.31 percent to 4.75 percent. After Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took over, it has again increased to 5.52 per cent. Similarly, growth rate of livestock and fisheries had been 8.84 percent and 4.66 per cent during TD rule, against 12.51 per cent and 8.59 per cent under the current government.
The minister said during 2014–15, GSDP in agriculture had been only Rs 78,898 crore, while in 2020-21, it has increased to Rs 1,40,087 crore. He maintained that allocations to agriculture had been under the previous government and did not exceed Rs 19,070 crore, But the state government has allocated Rs 31,856 crore in 2021–22 alone.
Kannababu asserted that while the state government is working hard during the critical pandemic and cyclone situations, opposition leaders are creating panic among farmers by taking up a malicious campaign against the government. He said no one can ever beat TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu in distorting facts even as Rayalaseema districts are emerging out of drought conditions. He underlined that farmers had been abandoned under the TD regime, but its leaders are now shedding crocodile tears.
