First tranche of Rythu Bharosa released by CM Revanth

Hyderabad

The first tranche of Rythu Bharosa funds was released by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy during the “Rythu Utsavalu” at Narmetta in Nangunuru mandal of Siddipet district on Sunday. He promised earlier that a total amount of ₹9,000 crore would be released in three phases within 45 days to 70 lakh farmers.

The Chief Minister said that the first tranche of payment, ₹3,600 crore, will be credited on Monday (March 22), another ₹5,400 crore will be released in the next 20 days and the remaining in the next 20 days.

Mr. Reddy claimed that during the 10-year rule of K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the State spent an average of ₹2,533 crore per month on farmers, whereas Congress government has been spending ₹5,500 crore per month over the last 28 months on agriculture and farmers’ welfare. In the last two years alone, over ₹1 lakh crore has been spent on farmers.

The CM said that Telangana had emerged as number one in paddy production in the country. This season alone, the State procured 71 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, though the Centre was not procuring beyond 50 lakh metric tonnes.

Crop diversification

Emphasising the need for crop diversification, Mr. Reddy said that agriculture must evolve beyond paddy cultivation. “Earlier, different regions cultivated different crops. Around Hyderabad, fruit orchards were common. We must encourage farmers to diversify and adopt crop rotation in all areas,” he said.

He also said that oil palm cultivation had expanded to three lakh acres in the State and assured that even if cultivation increased to 10 lakh acres, the government would procure the produce. He urged Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao to explore the possibility of setting up a similar unit in Kodangal.

Mr. Reddy called for replicating the Ankapur model of profitable agriculture across 12,728 gram panchayats in Telangana. The government, he said, would facilitate export opportunities in international markets to ensure that every crop grown in Telangana becomes remunerative.

Shortage of fertilizers?

Referring to the possibility of fertilizer shortage amid global conflicts, he said that the State would coordinate with the Centre and seek additional urea supplies from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ministers Damodar Raja Narasimha, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar and Vivek Venkatswamy, Government Adviser Sudarshan Reddy, MPs Raghunandan Rao and Vem Narender Reddy were also present.