September 19, 2023

Andhra Pradesh: Agriculture sector shrunk by 11% under YSRCP rule, TDP chief alleges

Former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar has accused the state government of plunging the agricultural sector into deep crisis with its “endless betrayals and anti-farmer policies”.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Narendra Kumar lamented that agricultural production had fallen sharply over the past three years. Farmers suffered crop losses on 26 lakh acres, but the government failed to compensate them fairly, he alleged.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy would go down in history as the one who made farmers suffer, and the state had the highest number of farmer and sharecropper suicides, he alleged.

The former MP claimed that paddy, which used to be sold at ₹1,600 per quintal during the TDP rule, is now only sold at ₹1,000 per quintal. Mismanagement by the YSRCP government led to an 11% drop in agricultural production, he said.

“The government has publicly stated that more than 59,000 farmers are growing different crops. Despite this, only nominal crop insurance payments were made to them. Vacancies in veterinary hospitals are not filled. The Gopala Mitra system is not implemented in letter and spirit. No one is taking advantage of the mobile veterinary assistance system,” he alleged.