By DC Correspondent
Copyright deccanchronicle
Vijayawada:Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has announced a financial incentive of Rs 800 per bag of urea to farmers if they minimise its usage.Addressing district collectors here on Monday, Naidu directed them to distribute the subsidy under the PM Pranam scheme to the farmers directly, so as to encourage them to reduce urea usage. He maintained that there was no shortage of urea but called for proper planning to supply it to the farmers.Referring to China’s rejection of chillies from Andhra Pradesh by citing usage of chemical fertilizers, the CM opined that excess usage of chemicals and pesticides as also urea could lead to cancer spread.Citing the plying of two trains between Punjab and Delhi for cancer patients, Naidu said that AP was standing in the fifth place vis-a-vis excess usage of urea in crops. He called for spread of awareness among the farmers on its adverse impact on people’s health.Meanwhile, civil supplies minister Nadendla Manohar raised the issue of rise in number of cancer patients in Bhalabadrapuram village in East Godavari district, due suspectedly to excess usage of fertilizers like urea there. The CM immediately directed the officials to make a study of the reasons causing cancer in the village.Naidu said farmers should be educated on cultivation of crops as per demand and supply. He noted that Rayalaseema region has emerged as ‘number one’ in horticulture crops and that the per capita income in Anantapur was higher than that of Konaseema region.Naidu said the government came to the rescue of the farmers by purchasing 20 million kg of HD burley tobacco. It also purchased mangos at `4 per kilo and paid ` 200 crore to farmers.As for onions, he said the government was purchasing them at `1,200 per quintal to protect the interests of the farmers. He asked district collectors to protect the interests of the farmers.On aquaculture, Naidu promised to protect the farmers’ interests. The state government is supplying power at `1.50 per unit to aquaculture fields spread over five lakh acres in the state. He asked officials to take up registration of names of aqua farmers within a month to enable them get the power subsidy.Naidu said aqua products should possess traceability certification. Officials must prevent pollution of aqua tanks with dumping of poultry waste, he said, and called for construction of animal hostels in 157 assembly segments to increase the dairy sector production, which registered the highest growth rate.
