Visakhapatnam District Collector M. Abhishikt Kishore distributed a cheque worth ₹12.06 crore, which will be benefiting about 18,573 farmers from the district as part of ‘Annadata Sukhibhava-PM Kisan’ first instalment funds during a programme held at Boni village in Anandapuram mandal on Saturday.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Kishore said the government has been extending continuous support to farming families by providing annual investment assistance of ₹20,000 to each eligible farmer. Of this, ₹6,000 is provided under the PM-Kisan scheme by the Centre and ₹14,000 under the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme by the State government.

He explained that for the current agricultural year, the State government has released the first instalment of ₹5,000 under Annadata Sukhibhava, while the Centre has released ₹2,000 under the scheme, enabling each farmer to receive ₹7,000 as the first instalment.

Referring to fertiliser availability, the Collector said the government had taken advance measures to prevent shortages of urea during the cropping season.

To ensure transparent distribution, villages under the jurisdiction of 18 Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) in the district have been digitally mapped, he said.

He observed that vegetables and horticultural crops grown in areas such as Tarluvada are well known for their quality and assured farmers that special plans would be implemented to secure better market value and remunerative prices for all agricultural produce in the coming days.