The integrated seed certification centre, set up at Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), will ensure that farmers get certified seed, according to Minister for Agriculture K. Kannababu.
Addressing the media after inaugurating the centre at Lam village on Tuesday, the Minister said it was set up at a cost of ₹1.49 crore to supply quality seed, fertilizers and pesticides to farmers.
“The State government will set up integrated labs in all Assembly segments which would ensure supply of quality seed and fertilizers. The government will sign MoU with seed companies and only those companies certified by the government will get permit to sell the seed. We will collect soil samples and test them in labs for which we are allotting ₹110 crore,” said Mr. Kannababu.
‘Priority to farmers’
Stating that the State government was giving the highest priority to farmers, the Minister said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has set up market stabilisation fund with a corpus of ₹3,000 crore to bail out farmers who are hit by natural calamities.
The village/ward volunteers would help the government take the benefits of welfare schemes to the doorstep of people. They would also interact with farmers directly and provide them with quality seed.
The Minister came down heavily on former Chief Minister and TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu for trying to settle political scores in the aftermath of floods. “Is it time to play dirty politics when many people are still reeling under floods. The State government has been able to handle the flood situation extremely well, and after a gap of ten years, all the reservoirs are full,” he said.
Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Marketing Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao said that the Chief Minister had constituted Agricultural Mission in which leading voices from the Agricultural Department were present. “Meetings are held every month at the office of the Chief Minister to review the farming sector,” he said.
