Mahbubnagar: Agriculture sector booming in TRS regime, says Singireddy

Mahbubnagar: With over 60.16 lakh farmers getting more than Rs 50,600 crore into their accounts for the 8th phase under the Rythu Bandhu programme in the State, the entire State is witnessing boom in the agriculture sector and the farming community are celebrating this in a big way expressing their happiness and gratitude to the government and its Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy while taking part in a huge tractor rally organised in Wanaparthy district on Tuesday.

While speaking on the occasion of Rythu Bhandu Celebrations in Wanaparthy, the Agriculture Minister reminded that earlier governments in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh ruined the agriculture sector completely and reduced the farmers of this region into peasants and migrant labourers.

"Instead of providing support to the farmers and initiate steps to improve agriculture in Telangana, the earlier rulers had belittled agriculture and ridiculed all those who took up farming as insane and termed the profession as loss making.

Lakhs of acres of lands in Telangana became barren; farmers left their lands and migrated to other big cities in search of livelihood. Those who stayed back were forced to sell off their lands and thousands others even committed suicides not able to bear the burden of debts and losses. They ruined the entire agriculture and farming sector in the state, the Minister said.

"But today, after formation of Telangana, we are seeing a complete change. All those who migrated are returning and taking up agriculture and harvesting bountiful crops and making a happy living. All this could happen only because of the revolutionary initiatives taken up the visionary leader KCR," Niranjan Reddy Said.

"Today each and every farmer is expressing his gratitude and happily celebrating the Rythu Bhandu Sambaralu," observed the Agriculture minister, while ridiculing the untoward statements of opposition leaders on the celebrations of Rythu Bhandu celebrations in the State.

Unlike earlier, the farmers have got their much needed respect and recognition. During the past seven years agriculture sector in Telangana developed tremendously and all sections of farmers including those in the allied sectors have benefited with the revolutionary reforms brought in by the State government to improve the agriculture sector in the State.

"Rythe Raju" is a just a saying in the past, but today this idiom has become a policy of Telangana government, said the Minister.

Enumerating on various initiatives taken up by the Telangana government during the past 7 years for improving the agriculture sector, the Agriculture Minister said that Chief Minister KCR had completed many lift irrigation projects in record time and provided water to the barren lands and flourished agriculture. "With commitment and dedication Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao completed the mega irrigation projects like Kaleshwaram, which is world's highest project.

Similarly, the Yedula reservoir under Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme has been completed in just 23 months which is also a record in entire country. Telangana is the only State providing input capital funding under Rythu Bandhu and security to farmers under Rythu Bheema schemes," said the Minister.

The Minister added more than 30 lakh borewells in the State are getting free 24 hours quality power and because of these efforts it has helped improve agriculture sector tremendously and today the Telangana state is producing record output paddy harvest contributing to about 54 per cent of entire country's paddy procurement by Food Corporation of India.

Until now, about over 60 lakh farmers having below 7 acres of land have been deposited Rs 6,008 crore as agriculture input capital as part of 8th phase of Rythu Bhandu for the Rabi season.

Criticising the BJP government at the centre for its inability to procure paddy from Telangana during Rabi season, the Agriculture Minster said that the central government has done nothing to support the farmers not just in Telangana, but in the entire country.