*Agriculture has become a burden in Naidu-rule*

Tadepalli, June 23: YSRCP State Spokesperson Veerashekhar Reddy said the coalition government’s governance has pushed farmers into such distress that they are now forced to feel that agriculture has become an unviable burden. Addressing the media at the party’s central office in Tadepalli, he said the government has ignored farmers’ grievances for two years, dismantled farmer welfare systems, and failed to provide support from cultivation to marketing. He stated that schemes such as zero-interest crop loans, free crop insurance and crop loss compensation have been virtually abandoned, while Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs), which supported farmers from seed procurement to crop sales during the YSRCP government, have been systematically weakened.
Veerashekhar Reddy said farmers today are struggling for subsidized seeds, fertilizers and remunerative prices. Paddy, maize, bengal gram, banana, tobacco, tomato, sugarcane, mango and aqua farmers are all facing severe losses due to price crashes and government inaction. He said the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme was diluted after replacing YSR Rythu Bharosa, with nearly seven lakh farmers excluded and tenant farmers completely neglected.
Highlighting the crisis faced by Totapuri mango farmers in Rayalaseema, he said nearly 4.5 lakh acres are under cultivation and hundreds of tractors loaded with mango produce have been waiting in queues outside juice factories in Chittoor district for several days. Farmers are being forced to endure heavy rains while their produce remains unsold. He stated that a combined allocation of Rs.369 crore by the State and Central governments could provide immediate relief, but no meaningful effort has been made.
He also pointed to rising aqua feed costs, saying feed prices increased by Rs.16 and only a token reduction followed after public pressure. Veerashekhar Reddy demanded immediate intervention to procure mango produce, protect farmers from exploitation, revive RBKs, and restore the farmer-centric support systems established during the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government