Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who took a series of decisions on farming operations in the State on Monday, announced that financial assistance to farmers under Rythu Bandhu scheme for Yasangi will be disbursed from December 27 to January 7 across the State. He instructed Finance Department officials to release Rs 7,300 crore for disbursal of the financial assistance.
The Chief Minister held a series of review meetings on Rythu Bandhu and expansion of farm operations at Pragathi Bhavan here. The review meeting discussed the strategy for distribution of Rythu Bandhu assistance and finalised the action plan.
Rao instructed the officials concerned to ensure that all the farmers in the State received the financial assistance directly in their bank accounts without fail. He said the assistance should begin with small and marginal farmers and then be expanded to farmers with large land holdings. All farmers across the State should, however, get the assistance within 10 days, he said.
Oil palm project
The Chief Minister, giving his nod for the Oil Palm Crop Extension project at a cost of Rs 4,800 crore, declared that farmers would be given 50 per cent subsidy to cultivate oil palm in the State. “Oil palm cultivation is possible only in areas where there is continuous availability of water for cultivation. Due to increase in irrigation water facility and 24×7 uninterrupted power supply in the State, farmers should utilise the opportunity and go in for oil palm cultivation in a big way,” he said.
The Chief Minister also disclosed that the National Reassessment Committee had identified 25 districts in the State as suitable for oil palm cultivation.
Observing the increasing demand for cotton, oil seeds and pulses in the market, the Chief Minister directed the officials concerned to promote cultivation of demand-oriented crops in the State. He pointed out that there was good response from farmers to the State government’s appeal to cultivate only those crops which had a demand through regulated farming.
“There is a good demand for cotton, oilseeds and pulses in the market. Vegetables are also in huge demand which must be given priority in cultivation. The area under maize cultivation should also be increased to 20 lakh acres, and the area under oil palm cultivation should be increased to 8 lakh acres,” he stated.
Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Principal Secretary for Finance K Ramakrishna Rao, Principal Secretary for Agriculture B Janardhan Reddy, and others attended the meeting.
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