Nellore: 147 Agriculture Labs to be set up in State says Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy

Nellore : While asserting his government's commitment over uplifting the living standards of the farming community, Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy said that the government has proposed to establish as many as 147 Agriculture Labs in every rural area in the entire State to prevent farmers from getting cheated while purchasing fertilisers, seeds, pesticides from various companies.

Along with Joint Collector Ronanki Kurmanath and District Agriculture Advisory Council Chairman (DAACC) Niranjan Reddy, the Minister inaugurated the newly constructed Bio-Fertilisers and Organic Fertilisers Quality Control Lab (BFOFQCL) on the premises of Nellore RDO office here on Thursday. This lab is the first of its kind in the State and costs about Rs 2.4 crore.

Speaking the occasion, the Minister said that 73 Agriculture labs were already started and 50 were under various stages of construction while construction of another 24 are yet to be begin. Describing the establishment of BFOFQCL as the brainchild of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, he stated it was decided to set up this kind of labs at every district headquarters, as part of the initiative of bringing radical reformations in agriculture sector.

Minister Govardhan Reddy informed that the government will introduce Plant Doctor Procedure (PDP) very soon for conducting soil testing. This is a unique concept, which will help in creating awareness among farmers over performing cultivation based on soil capacity in the lands, he added. He further disclosed that 1,077 Rythu Bharosa Kendram buildings were completed out of the total 3,000 buildings and construction of the remaining are under progress.

NUDA Chairman M Dwarakanath, District Agriculture Officer Sudhakara Raju and others were present.