Farmers await full-fledged implementation of Rythu Bharosa benefit in Mancherial

Farmers in Mancherial district are worried over delays in the full implementation of the Rythu Bharosa scheme as the Vanakalam season begins. Many are borrowing from moneylenders and traders to meet cultivation expenses while awaiting the release of pending benefits

Mancherial: Farmers are being forced to wait for the full-fledged implementation of the Rythu Bharosa scheme, which remains delayed even as farm activities have already commenced in the ongoing Vanakalam season.

The agrarian community has begun farm activities such as clearing weeds and preparing fields to cultivate paddy, cotton, soy and other crops during the agricultural season. Some of them have already started tilling fields to sow seeds for the crops in a couple of weeks. They are, however, anxious over the inordinate delay in extending the Rythu Bharosa benefit, which so far has been confined to merely two acres.

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The State government, apparently hit by a severe fund crunch, continues to postpone the release of the Rythu Bharosa benefit for the Yasangi season, worrying the beneficiaries. While the State government released the first phase of the Rythu Bharosa aid of Rs 6,000 per acre to beneficiaries on March 22, the second instalment reached farmers’ accounts on April 22.

The farmers were left with no option but to wait for the full-fledged implementation of the initiative. They are currently venturing to raise crops by borrowing from local moneylenders and traders at exorbitant rates of interest due to the delay in extending the benefit. The initiative was originally rolled out by then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, aiming to ease such burdens, way back in 2018.

The beneficiaries of the initiative opined that timely disbursal of the scheme would enable them to purchase seeds, fertilisers and other inputs. They said that they were now buying the inputs from traders by taking loans from informal sources. They regretted that they would not be able to make profits in agriculture if they relied on moneylenders and traders.

Officials said that 1.56 lakh farmers in the district received Rs 125.95 crore under the scheme in the Yasangi season. Over 1.52 lakh beneficiaries received Rs 198.13 crore through the initiative in the Vanakalam season of 2025. They noted that the benefit would be directly credited to the accounts of eligible farmers once it was released. They admitted that they were clueless as to why the benefit was being delayed.