ASR District to Push for Agriculture, Horticultural Expansion

visakhapatnam:ASR joint collector Thirumani Sri Pooja on Friday asked officials to intensify efforts to expand agriculture and horticulture activities across the district.

Chairing a review meeting at the District Collector’s conference hall on Friday, he underlined the importance of conducting soil health tests under expert guidance, introducing new crops to fertile lands and ensuring farmers get fair market prices for their produce.

Sri Pooja directed the agriculture officials to register every farmer in the district with the Andhra Pradesh Farmers Portal and ensure that the benefits of the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme reach all eligible beneficiaries. He asked the authorities to make the necessary urea available to farmers during the crop season.

Highlighting the region’s suitability for horticulture, the joint collector encouraged officials to promote mixed cultivation along with primary crops and prioritize expansion of coffee plantations. He emphasized that farmers should be encouraged to grow various crops such as black pepper, ginger, turmeric, dragon fruit, avocado, lychee, strawberry, cashew, pineapple, mushroom, custard apple, jackfruit and oil palm to generate income throughout the year.

Sri Pooja instructed village horticulture officers, agricultural assistants and mandal agriculture officers to prepare comprehensive crop planting plans. He tasked the Marketing department to set up mini storage facilities at the peg level to help farmers store their harvest. He highlighted ongoing farmer education programs as well as awareness campaigns on government programs and subsidies to help farmers adopt modern agricultural practices.

Those who attended the review meeting included district Agriculture officer SBS Nand, district Horticulture officer K. Balakarna, DRDA project director V. Murali, district Animal Husbandry officer M. Karunakar and district Fisheries officer Srinivasa Rao.