Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy on October 2 (Monday) said that natural farming was catching up fast as it was being viewed as a tool for achieving a healthy society.
The Chief Secretary was on a field visit to the areas where organic crops were being grown in Madakasira Assembly constituency of Sri Sathya Sai district. During his whirlwind tour, Mr. Jawahar Reddy interacted with the officials of the agriculture and allied departments and farmers.
He said that farmers giving priority to natural farming methods was a welcome step. “Farmers should adopt natural farming methods to achieve higher yields at low cost and earn high profits. The government is providing various services to farmers through Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs),” the Chief Secretary said.
Mr. Jawahar Reddy said more awareness on natural farming was needed.
The field-level agriculture officials should pay attention to the promotion of natural farming and follow the instructions of the government in this regard. “The government is taking steps to augment marketing facilities for farmers on a large scale,” he said.
The officials brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary that the rainfall in Sri Sathya Sai district was very low. He said that a proper action plan should be implemented to extend the benefits of welfare schemes to all the villages.
Anita Lakshmi, who achieved good results by adopting inter-cropping methods in five acres at her native village of Govindapuram, informed the Chief Secretary that the drought conditions in the district had made them learn the know-how pertaining to low-cost farming methods.
The officials said that about 42,000 farmers were practising natural farming in the district. Apart from vegetables, farmers were cultivating groundnut, saffron, banana, sorghum, mango, and ginger crops with low investment.
District Collector Arun Babu, and senior officials of the agriculture, horticulture, and allied departments from Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai, and Annamayya districts were present during the Chief Secretary’s field visit.
The Chief Secretary also interacted with farmers and SHG members at Neelakanta Puram village in Madakasira mandal. He appealed to farmers and women SHG members to provide good education to their children.
Child marriage
“The government officials should shoulder the responsibility of preventing child marriages by conducting extensive awareness programmes. The parents should not make hasty decisions on marriages of their daughters,” he said, adding that a special focus should be laid on the villages along the village bordering Karnataka.
