Govt committed to welfare of farmers: AP Congress

Hyderabad, July 5 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President K Keshava Rao today said the State Government was committed to the welfare of farmers and had initiated several measures to protect their interests.

Inaugurating a one-day farmers convention organised by the Kisan and Kheth Mazdoor department of the Congress here, he said the state government has been providing free power supply to the farmers in the state for the last three years and would continue to do so.

He said though the state government had distributed 4.37 lakh acres of land to the landless poor, there was a need to distribute more land to the poor and bring more land under cultivation with a view to achieve self-sufficiency in the food production.

Mr Rao said the government had taken up irrigation projects with a view to provide irrigated water to one crore acres of land by spending Rs one lakh crore.

He said as per this year's agriculture action plan, the government had proposed to produce 180 metric tonnes of foodgrains by bringing 118 lakh hectares under cultivation.

He asked the farmers to explain their problems and suggest ways to the government to deal with them. The APCC President also appealed the agricultural scientists to take steps and see that the laboratory results of their experiments on agriculture should reach farmers at the grassroots level.

Kisan and Kheth Cell Chairman M Kodanda Reddy, State Marketing Minister M Mareppa, Cooperation Minister Mohd Fareeduddin, the State Congress Committee Members of Kisan and Kheth Mazdoor cell, Marketing Committee Chairmen, District Congress Presidents and Agricultural Scientists attended the meeting.

UNI