Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has instructed officials to collect details of which crops are being grown on which survey number of land in the state through satellite survey. Conducting a review meeting on the agriculture department at the Secretariat, he discussed crop planning, value addition to products, use of AI chat bots to provide support to farmers and other issues.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that comprehensive information has been revealed through the satellite survey undertaken in Balabhadrapuram, Bikkavolu mandal of East Godavari district. He said that revenue records be cleaned and agricultural records updated after the re-survey.
The CM suggested that eligible persons should be identified through ‘e-Panta’ and that every farmer in the state should receive financial assistance under the ‘Annadatta.. Sukhibhava’ scheme. He said that high priority is being given to the development of the agricultural sector and a virtual meeting will also be held soon with irrigation associations.
The Chief Minister said that the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the state is going beyond the requirement and due to this, the soil fertility is decreasing. To solve this problem, farmers should be encouraged towards natural farming.
He asked to increase awareness about the use of organic and biofertilizers. He suggested that the integrated pest management system be implemented. He suggested that farmers should be made aware of carcinogenic herbicides and places with high cases should be identified. He said that if organic products are certified, there will be high demand.
He has given permission to sign an agreement with TATA soon for this. CM Chandrababu directed activities to export products that are not in demand domestically to foreign countries with certification.
Meanwhile, CM Chandrababu ordered the officials to complete the HD Burley tobacco procurement process by August 20th. He wanted to pay the dues from Markfed in two installments. He asked to take strict action against companies that do not purchase crops from farmers. He wanted to consider the issue of providing subsidized electricity only to aqua farmers who follow quality standards.
