The agriculture and allied sectors have achieved a double-digit growth as the State government has been adopting farmer-friendly policies, according to Minister for Agriculture Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy.

Speaking at the Kisan Mela organised at NG Ranga Agricultural University here on Tuesday, Mr. Chandramohan Reddy said that the government was committed to the welfare of farmers by crediting ₹15,147 crore to the accounts of farmers. The last instalment of ₹8,000 crore of Debt Redemption Scheme would be credited to the accounts of farmers in February. The grievances of farmers were also addressed after the State government settled the claims to the tune of ₹725 crore this year.

The State government also bailed out the farmers who got affected during natural calamities and credited ₹3,200 crore as part of input subsidy. Under the market intervention scheme, the government released ₹4,000 crore to the farmers cultivating maize, chilli, turmeric and jowar.

Soil health cards were given to all farmers and micro nutrients supplied on subsidy. Free power facility to farmers was extended to nine hours and ₹680 crore was spent on construction of new colleges of agriculture and horticulture.

Farmers’ demand

The government also responded favourably to the demand of farmers that the minimum land holding for farmers desiring to get their children admitted in universities be reduced from three acres to one acre. Paddy procurement centres were initiated across the State and the MSP for paddy was fixed at ₹1,750 per quintal for normal rice and ₹1,550 for discoloured rice.