Vijayawada: Agri sector growth high in state, says Kannababu

Vijayawada: Reiterating that the state government is committed to the welfare of the farmers and agriculture sector, agriculture minister Kurasala Kannababu slammed Opposition chief N Chandrababu Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh for misleading farmers by spreading false information on the occasion of National Farmers Day.

Speaking to media here on Thursday, the minister said Naidu who had neglected agriculture during his regime, has been shedding crocodile tears for farmers only to gain political mileage. He said the state government has been supporting farmers from supplying seeds to procurement of crop produce and the agriculture growth rate of Andhra Pradesh has been high compared to national average growth rate. Condemning the allegations of Naidu on farmers suicides, the minister said there is no need for the state government to conceal the suicides of farmers.

Kannababu said the state government has credited Rs 90,000 crore into the accounts of farmers directly in the last two years and reminded that while the previous government had spent only Rs 43,000 crore in five years for paddy procurement, the present government has spent almost Rs 32,000 crore for the same in last two-and-a-half years. He listed the welfare activities being implemented by the state government for the farmers and agriculture sector.

The minister slammed Lokesh for making provoking comments and alleged that it was during TDP regime that all the government systems were misused. In regard to movie tickets, the minister rubbished actor Nani's comments and asserted that it's the responsibility of the state government to regulate the prices of movie tickets. He questioned how is it is an insult to audience if ticket prices are lowered.