Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao asked the District Agriculture Advisory Committee to ensure that farmers at the village, mandal and district-levels are benefited by the measures being taken by the government for their welfare.
Speaking to reporters, the Minister said that nine agriculture labs were sanctioned to Visakhapatnam district, of which six were completed and the remaining would be completed by September-end. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was keen on making agriculture profitable to provide security to farmers, the Minister said.
He said that 627 Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) were sanctioned to the district and the construction of 88 buildings has been completed so far. He suggested that fertilizers be given to farmers through RBKs to avoid fleecing by middlemen. He asked the Advisory Committee Chairman Ch. Rama Rao and members to hold meetings at the village, mandal and district-levels to educate the farmers on the schemes being implemented for their welfare. Training programmes should be conducted to train farmers on use of fertilizers, quality seed, agriculture implements and methods to get higher yield.
Earlier, at the Advisory Committee meet, the Minister asked the officials to strive to make farmers insure their crops.
District Collector A. Mallikarjuna, Joint Collector M. Venugopala Reddy, MLAs Gudivada Amarnath, Karanam Dharmasri, Adeep Raj, Joint Director of Agriculture Leelavathi and officials of Sericulture, Horticulture, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry departments were present.
