The Rythu Chaitanya Yatras (RCY), the annual exercise undertaken by the government to prepare farmers for farming operations for the kharif season by creating awareness about modern agriculture methods, will be organised from April 22 to May 8.
They will be formally launched by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy at Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district on Monday. The RCYs will be followed by rythu sadassus (conferences) at all villages from May 9 to 13 during which exhibitions will be conducted to display modern tools available in the market.
Teams to visit villages
Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana said teams comprising officials from Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Forests departments and scientists would visit villages to conduct the RCYs and explain do’s and don’ts to farmers on various aspects of farming operations aiming at boosting overall production.
‘Bumper rabi crop expected’
The Minister said a bumper crop was expected out of rabi season, taking the overall State’s foodgrain production to 191 lakh tonnes for 2012-13. He denied reports that farmers faced problems in getting zero-interest loans from banks, saying an amount of Rs 125 crore was already released for the purpose. Input subsidy arrears of Rs. 2,000 crore due to farmers since 2008, would be disbursed now.