Atchannaidu presents Rs. 43,402.33 cr agri budget

•Announces Rs 8,564.37 cr agriculture dept, Rs1,023 cr for crop insurance, Rs 4,500 cr under Annadata Sukheebhava, one of the Super Six promises, under which each eligible farmer will get Rs 20,000 financial assistance

Vijayawada: Agriculture minister K Atchannaidu presented the agriculture budget for the year 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 43,402 crore in Assembly on Monday.

In the first agriculture budget after the NDA alliance government came to power, the minister said the progress of the state depends on the welfare and development of the farmers and asserted that the state government is committed to their welfare and development.

Atchannaidu said the state government has given top priority to agriculture and allied sectors with a vision to achieve Swarnandhra by 2047. Stating that 62 per cent of people depend on agriculture and allied sectors in the state for livelihood, he accused the previous YSRCP government of completely neglecting the agriculture sector and farmers in its tenure.

He announced that the government would give priority to sanction of crop loans, subsidy, supply of drones and agriculture tools on subsidy, seeds and fertiliser supply, transforming barren lands into fertile lands, sanction of interest-free loans and implementation of PM Kisan insurance scheme, etc., He said the highest allocation was made to agriculture followed by horticulture.

The minister said Rs 8,564.37 crore was allocated to the agriculture department for the welfare of the farmers. He said agriculture plays vital role in the state economy. He announced Rs1,023 crore for the crop insurance for the year 2024-25.

He announced that the government will sanction interest-free loans to the tune of Rs 628 crore and Rs 4,500 crore was allocated for Annadata Sukheebhavan scheme. The Sukheebhava scheme will be implemented as part of the Super Six scheme and the government will give financial assistance of Rs 20,000 to each farmer.

Atchannaidu said Rs 187 crore are allocated for mechanisation in agriculture sector. He announced that the state government has proposed to sanction Rs 2.64 lakh crore loans to the farmers in agriculture and allied sectors. So far, the crop loans worth Rs 1.03 lakh crore were sanctioned, he added.

The minister announced Rs 3,469.47 crore allocation to horticulture sector for the year 2024-25 in the budget. The government set objective of diverting 1.73 lakh acre land under culviatio of traditional agriculture crops to commercial crops in a phased manner and give all kinds of assistance to the farming community. He said Rs 337.1 crore was allocated under Integrated Horticulture Development Mission scheme.

The agriculture minister said Rs 373.93 crore is allocated for palm oil crop cultivation in the state and the government is ready to buy sprinklers and drip irrigation equipment to supply to the farmers for drip irrigation.

He Rs 108.44 crore allocation for sericulture in the state, saying that 80,550 farmers are engaged in sericulture in 1.49 lakh acre land and growing mulberry.

Atchannaidu announced Rs 314.80 crore for the marketing department and grants will be used for implementation of National Agriculture Market (NAM) at 33 agriculture markets in the state, for price stabilisation fund, for maintenance and development of Rythu Bazaars and other activities.