Centre to announce new agriculture policy: AP CM

Hyderabad, Oct 26 (UNI) The Centre will come out with a new agriculture policy within a few weeks to save the sector from the present crisis and make farming a profitable proposition.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave an assurance to this effect to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today.

Talking to reporters following Dr Singh's departure for New Delhi after attending three programmes, the Chief Minister said he had discussed in depth the agrarian crisis not only in the state, but in the whole country, and urged him to design a policy to make farming profitable and ensure that the farmers did not resort to suicides.

Dr Reddy said he had told the Prime Minister that though the UPA government had taken up several measures including reduction of interest rate on loans from 13 per cent to seven per cent and implementation of special packages in 31 districts of the country including 13 in Andhra Pradesh, the measures were insufficient.

He said though his government was supplying power free of cost, farmers were still suffering. He had suggested to the Prime Minister that farmers should get reasonable prices for produce through a better Minimum Support Price mechanism.

Dr Reddy said he had informed the Prime Minister that the state government was paying Rs 10,800 to farmers for growing Jatropa in their own land to develop biodiesel in a big way. He said he had urged the Centre to aid this project, under which help was rendered to farmers in one lakh acres in parched Mahabubnagar district alone.

The Chief Minister said while the GDP growth was nine per cent, the growth in the agriculture sector, on which 70 per cent of Indian population was dependent, was only two per cent. He said Dr Singh concurred with the opinions expressed by him and promised that a new agriculture policy would be announced in a few weeks.

UNI JRK RR KP2010