Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said he was as happy as conquering a kingdom in inaugurating the State’s first Rythu Vedika and work sheds to unify and educate farmers to make agriculture not only a for-profit business, but also a farmer-driven enterprise.
He said the opening ceremony of Rythu Vedika for Kodakandla in Jangaon agriculture cluster just made Saturday another historic day, two days after Dharani portal, the ‘trendsetter’ land record management system for Telangana, was launched in Medchal.
Mr. Rao, who flew down here from Hyderabad, was given a purnakumbham welcome by priests, and along with Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy and others he stood in prayers in the unveiling of the plaque.
Briefly, he inspected the 2,046-sq foot premises that was painted and decorated in agriculture theme.
Rythu Bandhu Samithi president Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said the farmers’ centre was built at a cost of ₹22 lakh. Each of the clusters would be managed by an agriculture extension officer, and the centres would soon be equipped with audio-visual system and manned with required staff.
Minister for Panchayat Raj E. Dayakar Rao and Minister for Women and Child, Scheduled Tribes Welfare, Satyavati Rathod, who hail from the undivided Warangal district, said the once-drought area was blessed with irrigation, thanks to the abundantly flowing SRSP canals and the Devadula project.
“Words of the previous governments did not become deeds and farmers were mere voters for them. This will mobilise farmers for their rights and give them a platform to grow, a first by any State in the country or the world,” the Ministers said.
CM KCR who later addressed the Aathmeeya Rythu Sammelanam with farmers said Rythu Vedika, his brain child, was a dream, which can achieve Bangaru Telangana.
“At the Rythu Vedika clusters, farmers can sit and talk, exchange experiences, deliberate about good practices and also listen to agriculture experts and scientists. You can decide on what to grow and how much to sell it for. Together you are like an atom bomb, can become a wonderful force,” he told the gathering.
