New Delhi, 21 February (HS): In the interest of red chilli producing farmers of Andhra Pradesh, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan called a review meeting at Krishi Bhavan on Friday after video conferencing with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday. In this meeting, the proposal of the Andhra Pradesh government for the implementation of the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) of the Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare was discussed and after detailed deliberations, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh gave guidelines to senior officials to provide relief to the farmers.

It was also decided in the meeting that ICAR will send an expert team to visit chilli fields in Andhra Pradesh, which will study the damage caused to the crop due to pest infestation and suggest effective IPM measures. Central and state government officials including Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu and Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi attended the meeting.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had come to Krishi Bhavan (New Delhi) on Thursday, with whom Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had a video conference. On Thursday, Shivraj Singh was on a visit to a remote place in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh for a pre-scheduled program.

In this meeting, the proposal of the Andhra Pradesh government regarding the implementation of the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) of the Union Ministry of Agriculture to provide relief to red chilli producing farmers during the season of 2024-25 was discussed in the meeting.

The Union Agriculture Secretary explained the subject in detail, on which the senior officials present in the meeting expressed their views on behalf of their respective ministries and suggested measures.

A progressive farmer from Andhra Pradesh present in the meeting said that there is a possibility of pest infestation at the time of flowering in the red chilli crop. Farmers have to spend a lot on the control measures to protect their crop from pests, as a result of which the cost of red chilli production in Andhra Pradesh increases, for which he suggested remedial measures to protect farmers from such pests.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh, while giving directions, said that the production cost of red chilli in Andhra Pradesh should be reviewed by ICAR, and the related report should be made available to the Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, so that an advance of 25 percent of the state production can be sanctioned to the Andhra Pradesh government for the implementation of price reduction payment of red chilli under MIS during the 2024-25 season.

Shivraj Singh also asked to prepare a proposal regarding increasing the coverage limit of red chilli under MIS from 25 percent of the production. Along with this, the Union Agriculture Minister directed to organize training and capacity building programs under the cluster development program of MIDH.

A meeting of exporters will be held soon under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, APEDA and other related departments to explore opportunities for export of red chilli from Andhra Pradesh.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar