More land covered under cultivation in Khariff: Minister

Hyderabad, Aug 20 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy today said more land was covered under cultivation during the Khariff season this year.

Addressing a press conference here, he said of the 76.62 lakh hectares cultivable land in the state, 63.74 lakh hectares was covered during khariff season this year, as against the 53.33 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year.

He said cotton cultivation had gone up to 110 per cent followed by Green Gram 94 per cent, Black gram 98 per cent, Soyabean 138 per cent, Maize 103 per cent and Sugarcane 96 per cent.

The Minister said the government had sanctioned Rs 539 crore to provide compensation under Crop Insurance Scheme for the farmers, who lost their crop due to droughts and floods during the last khariff season.

Stating that the farmers covered under this scheme would be eligible to receive the compensation, he said the State Government had already released Rs 232 crore and the insurance company would remit the amount into farmers account soon.

Pointing out that the Central Government had announced a special budget allocation of Rs 25,000 crore for agriculture in the country, he said the State Government would utilise the funds received from the Centre under the special budget for agriculture.

Mr Reddy said as per the Centre's direction, plans from the Districts would be obtained soon and after consultation with Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, the government would finalise the final plan.

The final plan would be presented at a meeting to be convened by the Centre at Bangalore next month to finalise how to utilise these funds, he added.

UNI