The Andhra Pradesh government has constituted an empowered committee, comprising Ministers P. Ramachandra Reddy, B. Satyanarayana, and S. Appala Raju; Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma; Special Chief Secretaries of the departments of Environment and Forests, Energy, and Animal Husbandry and Fisheries; and Commissioner of Fisheries, to sort out issues related to the aquaculture sector, mainly supply of feed, feed rate, and purchase rates.
A G.O. to this effect was issued by the Chief Secretary on Friday following complaints by the farmers that the formation of syndicates by the traders resulted in a steep fall in the prices of aqua products and a spike in aqua feed rates.
An official release said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had taken a serious note of the fleecing of farmers by the traders, and insisted that the farmers’ interests be protected in the larger interests of the aquaculture sector, which was a major revenue source for the government.
He ordered that the committee submit its report in one week to facilitate remedial action.
