‘Farmer’ Somireddy’s Rs 19,070-cr agri budget

VIJAYAWADA: THE agriculture and allied departments budget for the fiscal 2018-19 introduced in the AP Legislative Assembly stood at Rs 19,070.36 crore. While Rs 18,602.98 crore is proposed for revenue expenditure, the remaining Rs 467.38 crore will be capital expenditure. Dressed as a farmer, Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy presented the budget.

Asserting the commitment of the government to double the income of farmers by 2022, the minister said that the state had recorded a high growth rate in agriculture and allied sectors. The minister said Andhra Pradesh topped the agriculture growth rate. One of the major allocations in the agriculture budget is for linkage of agriculture and allied sectors with MGNREGA.

The government has allocated Rs 4,730 crore for the purpose and will take up activities like promotion of organic fertilisers, formation of roads to agriculture fields, improving groundwater and silt application to enhance productivity of land.