1,380 cr to be spent on micro-irrigation projects: Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy

Vijayawada: Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said that National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) plays a key role in extending financial help to the agriculture sector. He participated in the launching of Farmer Producers Organisation (FPO), a viable business enterprise, organised by NABARD on Wednesday.

Addressing the gathering, the Minister said with NABARD linkage, the State government would spend a total of Rs 1,380 crore for micro irrigation projects in the State this year.  

He said that the State government was giving priority to horticulture and securing good results with regard to the growth rate. The Minister said that a target of 25 per cent growth was fixed by the government in horticulture cultivation for 2018-19. The area of cultivation has been increased to 42.67 lakh acres across the State. 

He said that cocoa, lime, palm, papaya, cashew, mango, orange and others were being cultivated under horticulture. The Minister said that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu wants horticulture cultivation area to be developed to one crore acres in the next five years and transform the State into horticulture hub. Somireddy said through Micro Irrigation Projects (MIPs), horticulture can be taken up with the available water sources. 

The Minister said 324 market yards were developed for the benefit of farmers to directly sell their produce without middlemen. About 96 Rythu Bazaars were established in the State and 22 Electronic National Agricultural Market (ENAM) centres were established to benefit the farmers to sell their produce across the country directly. He said that integrated horticulture cultivation will be developed under PPP model at 19 locations at a cost of Rs 385 crore.

He said that Cold Chain Corporation was established and transport vehicles were provided to the farmers to store the produce in the cold storage free of cost for six months.  A poster was released on the occasion. Horticulture Commissioner Chiranjivi Choudhary, NABARD CGM K Suresh Kumar, Bala Baskar of SERP, AP, Jagannatha Swamy, AGM of Andhra Bank, and others were present.