The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Coop farming: State to invest 5,000 cr.

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Monday, Jul 06, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Coop farming: State to invest 5,000 cr.

YSR writes open letter to farmers

50 villages to be identified for taking up coop farming
YSR says income of farmers will go up by five times

HYDERABAD: Undeterred by the criticism on introduction of cooperative farming, the State government plans to invest Rs. 5,000 crore in 50 villages that it intends to identify for taking up this innovative practice.

The State government would select at least two villages in each district for this experiment where in at least Rs. 100 crore would be spent on cooperative farming in each village, according to an open letter written by the Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy to farmers on Sunday.

Dr. Reddy gave a call to the farmers to understand the concept and take a suitable decision. Stating that the government was not pressuring them to surrender their land for cooperative farming, the Chief Minister explained the advantages of the practice that would benefit them economically and bring prosperity to the rural areas.

Cooperative farming would result in low input cost, high yield, increased earning and more investments. Once a farmer joins the scheme, his income will touch Rs. 50,000 per acre instead of present Rs. 10,000 per acre.

He pointed out that across the world, only five per cent of the farmers under cooperative farming took up farm operations while the rest devoted their energies in giving value addition to the farm produce by setting up food processing units, packing units and marketing the produce. This was in contrast to 60 per cent of farmers working in the fields in the country, he added. Dr. Reddy noted that small land holding in the country was a big constraint for the farmers as they were unable to adopt latest farm technology.

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