Hyderabad sources have stated that rains have eluded the farmers in the state when they needed them the most and presently they have received blessings from the rain God, but the agriculture ministry has left them high and dry and at a time when they badly need the help of government, agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy with his entourage of officials in tow left for the US in the early hours of Sunday.
Meanwhile G V Ramanjaneyulu, director of Centre for Sustainable Agriculture has stated that it is such a situation where in the government is expected to work round the clock and take measures on a war footing to mitigate the crop loss and unfortunately, the government is virtually absent as far as agriculture is concerned, not to speak of apathy from the authorities.
It is stated that after admitting prevalence of grim situation due to the intermediate dry spell after sowing was done in July, Srinivas Reddy last week confessed to TOI that the government needed to take some urgent steps.
The agriculture commissioner G D Priyadarshini has been given the responsibility of addressing farmers' issues and however, left with limited resources, things are not moving fast in the agriculture department and the minister and officials have gone on tour for only10 days, but that does not mean the agriculture department is not working.
