Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has said that his government was giving top priority to agriculture and its allied activities such as poultry, dairy farming, fisheries, horticulture, animal husbandry and sericulture. This will ensure that youth do not migrate to urban areas in search of livelihood and also provide income through the development of these sectors, he said, adding that the government had hiked the budget to agriculture by 67%, horticulture by 75%, fisheries by more than 100% and dairy sector by 150%.
The Chief Minister, along with Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Processing Sharad Pawar today inaugurated the National Fisheries Development Board’s regional office building at Rajendra Nagar in the city.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the Planning Commission has been requested to extend support to the State government for taking up construction of cold storage plants, godowns, food processing and other value added units which will increase the income availability in the rural areas and also arrest migration of the educated rural youth to the urban areas.
The Chief Minister said that more than 20 lakh fishermen in the State, who eke out their livelihood in the high seas, depend on the mercy of the nature. As such, the Centre and the State government were taking steps to ensure that they get sustainable income even during the period of natural disasters such as Tsunami, floods or earthquakes.
The State government was providing Rs 20,000 to each fisherman for construction of houses on par with SCs and STs. However, there was an increasing demand that the amount is insufficient. Therefore, a high-level committee has been constituted to study the matter, the Chief Minister said, adding that on par with agriculture, the Nala fees has been waived for the fisheries sector.
The Chief Minister appealed to Sharad Pawar to set up an aquarium as per international standards in the city, which will attract tourists and students. The Union Minister responded favourably to the Chief Minister’s request and announced that an Aquarium of international standards will be set up in the city.
Sharad Pawar said that due to the efforts of scientists, the country has achieved self-sufficiency in agriculture produce and “now we are exporting food grains to various countries”. Similar efforts are also required in the field of fisheries, he observed. The National Fisheries Development Board will strive to increase the share of fisheries exports in the world market, the minister added.
Minister of State for Fisheries Charan Das said that Andhra Pradesh ranks first in fish production. State Minister for Animal Husbandry Viswaroop spoke at length about various measures being taken by the government towards the development of fisheries sector and the measures taken by the government for the welfare of the fishermen.
MP M Srinivas Reddy, MLA T Prakash Goud spoke on the occasion.
MP Rajgopal Reddy and other officials were present.
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