Farmers in fix as drip, sprinklers supply delays for years

KADAPA: Thousands of farmers across the state have been waiting for micro irrigation scheme equipment for which they have already paid for as the implementation of the scheme has been in limbo for the last three years.

Officials said the state government owed about Rs 1,000 crore to various companies. In this context, the state government was finally gearing up to implement the micro irrigation project, they added. “The state government has approved the subsidy pattern to the Andhra Pradesh Micro Irrigation Project (APMIP) under the Pradhan Mantri Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) for the financial year 2021-22. The total outlay of the project is about Rs 1,190.11 crore,” they said.

In this, the Centre’s share is Rs 360.46 crores, state share is Rs 601.40 crores, total subsidy is Rs 961.86 crore and farmers’ contribution is Rs 228.25 crore. It was approved by the state government and the orders were issued in the first week of July and the officials are prepared to call for tenders.

For drip irrigation, it has classified farmers in three groups. Marginal and small farmers in the state will get up to 2 hectares maximum with a subsidy of 90 per cent of the project cost and the remaining 10 per cent should be paid by the farmer himself. In this, Centre’s share is 33 per cent and the state government share is 57 per cent.

In the second group, farmers from Rayalaseema and Prakasam district will get 70 per cent subsidy and the remaining 30 per cent of the amount should be paid by farmers. The unit will be given to 2 to 4 hectares. The Central government will pay 27 per cent and the state share is about 43 per cent.

In the third group, all other farmers in the coastal district except Prakasam can avail land up to 2 to 5 hectares. The subsidy is 50 per cent in the project cost, 27 per cent given by the Central government and 23 per cent is the state share. Farmers using sprinklers to irrigate land in the state will get a 50 per cent subsidy in the unit cost. The state government has fixed micro irrigation to be implemented in 1.5 lakh hectares in the state in the current year.

Officials also said companies that had set up units providing equipment under the micro-irrigation scheme in the past three years had to get arrears of about Rs 1,000 crore across the state. In Kadapa district alone, about Rs 120 crore is due to various companies.

Kadapa district is famous for its horticultural crops. Farmers here are mostly interested in cultivating through drip and sprinklers. In the year 2019-20, a total of 16,369 farmers applied for micro irrigation schemes on 21,369.84 hectares. Of them, 2,024 farmers of 3,080.62 hectares have not yet received drip equipment.

Also, 542 farmers have newly applied for the micro irrigation scheme for 484 hectares for the year 2020-21. They have not received the equipment yet. No applications have been received so far this year. It is up to the authorities to decide how far the new proposals will be implemented in these circumstances.

Speaking to this newspaper, APMIP project director Doddipalli Madhusoodana Reddy said orders had been issued for this year's subsidy. He also said the state level authorities were in the process of calling for tenders in this regard. None of the farmers who had provided DDs earlier need not need to worry and the scheme would be applicable to all, he said.

He explained that farmers in the district had paid DDs of Rs 4 crore to various companies. It was revealed that micro irrigation equipment was to be provided to 2,006 farmers in respect of a total of 3,012 hectares. All of them will be provided with mandatory equipment this year.