Of this, the plan outlay for agriculture and allied activities stands at Rs 6,736.44 crores, and the non-Plan expenditure at Rs 6,373.95 crores.
Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao on Friday presented Rs 13,110.39 crore Agriculture Budget for the State of Andhra Pradesh for the year 2014-15.
Of this, the plan outlay for agriculture and allied activities stands at Rs 6,736.44 crores, and the non-Plan expenditure at Rs 6,373.95 crores.
Presenting the budget in the A P State Legislative Assembly, Pulla Rao said that the budget was aimed at making agriculture a profitable and sustainable vocation.
He said that Andhra Pradesh was considered as the "rice bowl of India", and that 62% of its farmers were dependent on agriculture, but that the State had inherited a crisis-ridden agriculture sector from the previous government.
Stating that the government had taken a brave step by going ahead with the loan waivers for farmers despite starting off with a revenue deficit, the minister said that Rs 5,000 crores had been allocated for agricultural crop loan waivers.
"The state government is partnering with ICRISAT and other institutions for soil health management through the Bhuchetna programme. Under the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), soil mapping and testing will be taken up in every village of AP to bring down the input costs of farmers and increase agriculture productivity," the minister informed the House.
For this, the State government will use advanced technologies like remote sensing, GIS and GPS-simulation models, which will enable optimum use of fertilizers.
A budget of Rs 212 crores has been allocated for popularizing better seed varieties and supply of certified seeds on subsidy to farmers.
In order to modernize agriculture through use of the best machinery, and for setting up different agri-related service centres, the government has allocated Rs 90 crores.
The government has also decided that the scheme of crop loan interest for loans between Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 3 lakhs being 0.25 paisa (Pavala Vaddi) if repaid in time will be continued. Taking a step further, the government has also said that farmers can avail themselves of interest-free loans for crop loans below Rs 1 lakh.
The government's flagship Polam Pilustondi scheme will reach nearly 7.6 million farmers, the minister informed.
To improve the livelihoods of farmers, the state government will nring in qualified Multi-purpose Extension Officers (MPEOs) to improve productivity in agriculture.
Under the Rajiv Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), an additional central assistance, during 2014-15, an interim allocation of Rs 237 crores has been made to agriculture and allied sectors.
The state government has also allocated Rs 192.92 crores for the Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University.
The government, Pulla Rao informed, is committed to improving micro-irrigation with a total outlay of Rs 348.33 crores.
While the Horticulture University got an outlay of Rs 30.61 crores for 2014-15, the State Government's boost for Sericulture stands at Rs 122.92 crores.
The budget for the Veterinary University at Tirupati is Rs 112.80 crores.
The total expenditure allocated for the animal husbandary department for 2014-15 is Rs 723.32 crores (the non-Plan expenditure stands at Rs 527.32 crores, and Plan outlay at Rs 196 crores).
The budget allocated for fisheries is Rs 60.07 crores.
The State Government has allocated Rs 3,188 crores for power subsidy to farmers for 2014-15. It is proposed that every year 10,000 new solar pump sets be installed in a phased manner over the next five years.
In the state government's efforts to link MGREGA to agriculture, Rs 1,386.30 crores have been allocated for agriculture and allied activities under MGNREGA.
The minister said that the government's focus would be to integrate all the lines of the departments of agriculture, animal husbandry, irrigation, horticulture, sericulture, fisheries, marketing and rural development, for raising the farmers' incomes and increasing the share of the primary sector in the GSDP. (INN)