State Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy on Tuesday thanked Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu for using his good offices with the Food Corporation of India to procure more paddy from Nellore farmers by extending the deadline up to October-end.
Addressing the media here along with SPSR Nellore District Collector K.V.N. Chakaradhar Babu, he said that the YSR Congress Party had extended its support to the farm Bills in Parliament in the larger interest of farmers.
He said following the revised guidelines by the Food Corporation of India, 30,000 tonnes of paddy would be sent to other districts for expeditious milling. The FCI had also allowed relaxation in the quality of crop, which had been affected because of excess rains.
For the first time, Nellore 3354 variety was grown by farmers and it suffered damage due to an adverse climatic condition, he said, adding that harvest of paddy grown in extended rabi season still continued.
He said a senior officer would be appointed as nodal officer to effectively coordinate with farmers, officials from the departments of Agriculture, Civil Supplies and Water Resources and millers to iron out solutions to the problems faced by growers. Satellite images would be used to assess the crop acreage for effective management of paddy procurement smoothly.
A Central team would visit the State soon to assess the damage caused by rains and overflowing reservoirs, he said, adding farmers would be provided with input subsidy and crop insurance benefits by the farmer-friendly Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
