Nizamabad: Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy on Friday directed the district officials concerned not to spare anyone who sells spurious seeds to farmers and take stern action against them.
Participating in a review meeting held at the District Collectorate office, he said Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had made it clear that no one should intervene in the issue and those selling or supplying sub-standard quality seeds should be dealt with an iron hand.
Stating that the Chief Minister had accorded top priority to the agriculture sector and took key decisions aimed at benefiting farmers in the State, the Minister said that with the pro-farmer initiatives, he said Chandrashekhar Rao had given a fitting reply to those who said that agriculture was a waste.
45,000 waterbodies revived
He appreciated the agriculture department officials for extending necessary help to farmers. Groundwater levels in 22 lakh borewells had increased after taking up de-silting works in 45,000 waterbodies through Mission Kakatiya. The construction of check dams also helped in increasing groundwater levels, he said.
The Minister said the State government has set up new sub-stations and installed more transformers at a cost of Rs 28,000 crore and ensured uninterrupted power supply to the agriculture sector round-the-clock. “Farmers are taking up cultivation without any problem as seeds are also provided to them in advance,” Reddy said.
The Minister said the State government was taking various measures to control the menace of spurious seeds. It is extending financial assistance to farmers by giving Rs.10,000 every year and in all the government was giving Rs.14,000 crore financial assistance to farmers.
Officials instilled the confidence of farmers by buying paddy from them from procurement centres. “It is the responsibility of officials to ensure that farmers won’t face any problems during this monsoon,” the Minister said, adding that the government filled up 2,600 AEOs posts to render services to people.
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Telangana to seek change in outdated laws against spurious seeds
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