Nellore Collector MV Seshagiri Babu advises farmers to prevent excess use of fertilizers, pesticides

Nellore: District Collector MV Seshagiri Babu said that he had found during his recent visit to Vidavalur mandal that paddy farmers in the district have been using excessive fertilisers and pesticides and suggested them to minimise the usage to reduce investment cost and to avoid adverse impact on the environment.

He addressed the media at the Agriculture Research Station in the city on Friday and said that 6-7 lakhs of acres are being cultivated during Rabi in the district and the farmers have been using excess quantities of fertilisers.

He also said agriculture officers and scientists are going to visit fields in every mandal from Dec 16 to 30 and educate the farmers on the correct use of fertilisers and pesticides. They had arranged a helpline-18004253141- at Krishi Vigyana Kendra for supporting the farmers and the scientists would be available at the helpline for providing necessary suggestions to the farmers in two shifts. This service will be available up to the end of February, said the Collector. Joint Director of Agriculture C Ananda Kumari said that 1.34 lakh hectares of lands are now under paddy cultivation. She also informed that they had distributed 9 lakh soil health cards to the farmers and the recent tests also revealed that they need to use more organic manure for strengthening the soils.

Deputy Director of Farmer's Training Centre Siva Narayana, Chief Scientist of the Research Station Vineetha, scientist Surekha Devi, LDM YV Ramprasad Reddy, and others were present.