Rythu Bharosa Kendras to certify all farm inputs

Amaravati: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBK) channel in virtual mode from his camp office here on Thursday. He also reviewed procurement of rabi crop produce of 2020-21 and preparations for kharif 2021–22.

During the review, the Chief Minister said RBKs are setup to support farmers in all activities ranging from sowing seeds to selling the crop. New buildings are also being constructed for them in villages so that all these structures should be permanent for all the farmers. He said farmers should not be cheated in purchase of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, etc., through RBKs and added that the state government has been testing the products at RBKs and give guarantee and quality certification with government stamp on it. He said the aim is to make inputs available to farmers within 48 to 72 hours of placing orders.

The Chief Minister said agriculture assistants are working from RBKs and e-cropping is being registered at the same place. The poster with details of minimum support price for any crop within the RBK's limit is displayed in the RBK. He said if any farmer has to sell his crop for less than the minimum support price in any village, he can register in RBK and agriculture assistant of that village should inform the government by uploading the details in CMAPP (Comprehensive Monitoring of Agriculture Prices and Procurement). He said marketing department would intervene and ensure the crop is sold at a fair price, if not it should procure the crop from the farmer directly and added that all this process will be done under the preview of joint collector.

He said RBK channel is launched to provide information to farmers on crops and weather conditions. As smart TVs are being set up in RBKs, the RBK channel would help the farmers to get the continuous information on the precautions to be taken while farming and information on weather conditions, he said and added that a toll free number (155251) was set up to address the specific problems raised by farmers at RBKs.

The Chief Minister asked the agriculture minister and secretary to come up with a system to address the doubts of the farmers in RBKs in an interactive manner with the scientists. He said the state government has been taking revolutionary steps as part of the process of bringing them closer and more useful to the farmers.

Agriculture minister Kurasala Kannababu, Agriculture Mission vice-chairman M V S Nagi Reddy, agriculture special chief secretary Poonam Malakondaiah, civil supplies commissioner Kona Shashidhar, special secretary for marketing and cooperation Y Madhusudan Reddy, agriculture marketing commissioner M D Suryakumari and other officials were present.