The State government will set up the Krishi Cabinet, a Cabinet sub-committee which will look into the challenges of the Primary Sector Mission undertaken to make agriculture and its allied activities profitable and sustainable for all-round improvement of the rural economy.
The mission was rechristened as ‘Rythu Kosam’ on Friday.
All this would be part of the government’s strategy to achieve 18.2 per cent growth in 2015-16 fiscal year to enhance the contribution of primary sector to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) from Rs.1.43 lakh crore to Rs.1.69 lakh crore, said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on Friday.
Reviewing the mission’s performance, Mr. Naidu emphasis would be laid on promoting cost-effective farm practices and value-based marketing of the produce. An Additional Joint Collector-rank official would be made the in-charge of the Primary Sector Mission’s performance, he said.
The government is also planning to distribute fertilizers, seeds and pesticides through fair price shops to curb black marketing .
ICRISAT Assistant Director S.P.Wani gave a power point presentation on the existing agriculture scenario and measures to improve its growth.
Officials also suggested that certificate courses on best farming methods and training classes should be conducted for farmers.
Further, Special Chief Secretary (Agriculture) Vijay Kumar informed the Chief Minister that 3.7 lakh soil samples were collected by using geo-tagging technology and SMS alerts would be sent to farmers about the changes to be adopted in farm practices, he said.
