Ministers P. Narayana and Sidda Raghava Rao termed the mass deployment of rain guns, sprinklers and water tankers to protect the groundnut crop in about one lakh acres in Chittoor district as “historic” and attributed the success to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The Ministers congratulated District Collector Siddarth Jain for deploying the entire official machinery to work in the fields round the clock during the last one week.
Addressing a press conference here, the Ministers said that the experience of using rain guns to protect the crops had resulted in a sea of confidence among the farmers of the drought-prone Chittoor district in particular and Rayalaseema in general, that drought could be defeated permanently.
“The forethought of the Chief Minister helped a great deal in procuring the rain guns on a large scale and using them in the fields at the right time, which otherwise would have been a tragedy to farmers. Now, we are able to see happiness in the eyes of farmers in all the 49 mandals affected by deficit rainfall. They are looking confident,” the Ministers said.
They said that the appeal of the farmers to have rain guns for themselves would be brought to the notice of the Chief Minister and steps would be taken accordingly. “The first phase of wetting the groundnut fields was taken up at a cost of Rs.180 crore, and would be completed in a couple of days, and the second phase would commence based on the requirement, though the official machinery is fully geared up for the occasion,” they said. The Collector said that the whirlwind tours and stay of as many as five Ministers (N. Chinarajappa, Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, P. Narayana, Sidda Raghava Rao and Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao) for supervising the use of rain guns and sprinklers during the last three days had enlivened the hopes of farmers, and they were happy to see their standing crops saved from withering.
He appealed to farmers not to lose their heart, but approach the agriculture officials and field staff for any help. He further sought them to utilise the government services and contact the officials through the helpline.
