Crop Loss From Cyclone Gulab: AP Govt Stands by Farmers

Amaravati, Sep 28: Assuring that the government will take care of the farmers who lost their crops in the Gulab Cyclone, Minister for Agriculture Kurasala Kannababu said that officials have been appointed to assess the crop damage and slammed the opposition TDP leaders over false allegations against the government of ignoring the farmer fraternity.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the minister said that, as per the preliminary estimates, almost 1.56 lakh acres of crop loss had occurred due to the Gulab Cyclone, especially in both Godavari and Krishna districts. He stated that the officials have been appointed to oversee the final enumeration and the district collectors have been directed to hold Agri-Advisory Committee meetings to discuss the crop loss. As instructed by the Chief Minister, all the required measures will be taken to rescue the farmers.

While the government is working hard in these critical situations, he slammed the opposition leaders for creating panic among farmers by taking up a malicious campaign against the government. The minister said that no one can ever beat Chandrababu Naidu in diversion politics, who indeed is trying to distort the fact that Rayalaseema districts are coming out of drought conditions. He reminded us that farmers have been abandoned by TDP rulers during their regime, but the same rulers are now shedding crocodile tears. Unlike the previous government, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has always supported the farmers, introduced the market stabilisation fund, and stood by them right from seed to sale.

Drawing comparison, he said that the TDP government had procured only 11.22 lakh Mt of crops in five years at Rs 3921 crore, but the current government had spent Rs 6454 crore to procure 19.39 lakh Mt crops in the last two years. The growth rate in agriculture and allied sectors in the last decade was registered at 37.27 per cent. In agriculture alone, it declined from 8.31 per cent to 4.75 per cent during the TDP rule, but it was increased to 5.52 per cent under the leadership of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Similarly, the growth rate in livestock and fisheries was recorded at 8.84 per cent and 4.66 per cent in the five years of TDP rule, against 12.51 per cent and 8.59 per cent in the current government.

Further, the minister said that during 2014-15, GSDP in agriculture was only Rs 78898 crore, while in 2020-21, it increased to 14,0087 crores. The overall GSDP with agri and allied sectors was Rs 1.48 lakh crore in 2014-15, and it is expected to rise to Rs 3.36 lakh crore in 2020-21. He said that the previous government had made poor allocations to agriculture by not exceeding Rs 19,070 crore, but the state government had allocated Rs 31,856 crore during 2021-22. He said that the Chief Minister has been providing input subsidies for the crop loss in the same season.

Meanwhile, responding to Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan’s remarks, Minister Kannababu said that Pawan hadn’t yet digested his defeat in the 2019 polls, and was unable to go alongside the BJP while his heart was still with the TDP. He flayed him for playing caste politics in a film function and said that the latter was speaking out of frustration, as Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is on a winning spree by delivering good governance.