'Farming witnessed a sea change'

Warangal: The agriculture sector in Telangana has undergone a sea change due to various proactive measures taken by the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao government, Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Errabelli Dayakar Rao said. Inaugurating paddy procurement centre at Bangaru Chelimi Thanda under Pedda Vangara mandal in Mahabubabad district along with Minister for Tribal Welfare Satyavathi Rathod on Saturday, he accused the BJP of trying to dethrone the TRS government in Telangana. "BJP-led Central government did nothing for the farming sector. In fact, it was proposing to fix meters to the pump sets used in agriculture. On the other hand, the TRS government was doing everything to protect the interests of the farmers," Errabelli said.

Farmers in the State get 24-hour free power supply and Rs 10,000 financial assistance per acre per annum under Rythu Bandhu scheme. Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima schemes have become beacons for other States in the country, he said. The government has also ensured irrigation facilities, even to the tail end areas, he added.

KCR has always been kind to farmers. The State government was bearing Rs 3,000 crore per annum as the Centre had denied purchasing the paddy from Telangana, Errabelli said.

Stating that it was lucrative, Errabelli appealed to farmers to think of oil palm cultivation. Farmers can earn Rs 1.40 lakh per acre by cultivating oil palm. Efforts are on to establish an oil palm processing unit in Palakurthi constituency, the Minister said.

Satyavathi Rathod alleged that the Centre was trying to sell the rights of farmers to corporate houses. It's time for the BJP to stop chest-thumping and focus on farmers' plight in Karnataka and Haryana ruled by it. She said that the BJP will pay for its anti-farmer policies. Rathod urged farmers to make use of paddy procurement centres set up by the State government. Additional collector David, MPP Rajeshwari, ZPTC Jyothirmayee and MPTC Soujanya were among others present.