YSR gives top priority to agriculture

Stating that his government's ambitious irrigation development programme was part of a lasting solution to the ailing agriculture sector in the state, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy said, "If the farmer is happy, the entire nation is happy."

Speaking at the Congress plenary on the third and last day of the session on Monday, Reddy thanked the Centre for declaring that a second Green Revolution was an essential prerequisite for achieving an overall economic growth of 8 per cent on a sustained basis.

On the measures taken by his government, he said the restoration of confidence among the farmers and rural artisans was his immediate priority.

He said free power to farmers and waiver of power arrears were part of the measures to boost the agriculture sector and acknowledged that the real solution was in tapping the complete irrigation potential of the state along with reforms.

Stating that Andhra ranked last among the five large producers of foodgrains in the country owing to poor productivity, Reddy said that there was no way the farmers in the state could compete with other states, particularly with those in the Indo-Gangetic plain, if they had to depend on rains.