State government to pay insurance of Prakasam farmers

Nellore: The state government would bear the cost of crop insurance for the benefit of farming community in Prakasam district in view of severe drought conditions prevailing in the region.  

Conditions pertaining to lease farmers are also being revised to enable them receive the benefits of all the government schemes similar to regular farmers.  

As part of the initiative, loan eligibility cards have been distributed to 7 lakh tenant farmers though the target is only 6.5 lakh farmers cultivating in leased lands.  

The state government is also taking steps to complete the first tunnel works of Veligonda project by June, 2020 and supply 3,000 cusecs of water to the reservoir, according to Pola Bhaskar, Prakasam district collector.  

He attended a programme held at Ongole on Monday. Mr Bhaskar also dwelt at length on cold storage facilities being established besides food processing units to make effective use of the agriculture produce in Prakasam district.

Meanwhile, minister for power, forest and environment, Balineni Srinivasa Reddy said that the government has slashed the power tariff for aqua sector to Rs 1.50 though it would cause a burden of Rs 720 cr on the exchequer.

He was addressing a gathering on the occasion of 'Rythu Dinotsavam' launched to mark the birth anniversary of former CM Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in Ongole on Monday.  

He said that measures are being taken to supply uninterrupted power for 9 hours to the farmers. "Over Rs 12,500 would be deposited into the the accounts of every farmer from October 2 as part of Rythu Bharosa scheme besides providing  interest-free crop loans.”  

The minister also said that they have kept Rs 3,000 crore as reserve to provide MSP for farm produce.