Agriculture is in deep crisis after Jagan Mohan Reddy has become the Chief Minister and farmers are the worst affected, said TDP general secretary, Nara Lokesh, on Monday.

The State is now in third place in farmers suicide and Jagan never reviewed on insurance to faring community, Lokesh said during an interaction with farmers at Venkatapuram of Alur Assembly segment in Kurnool district during his ongoing Yuva Galam pada yatra. Lokesh promised to bring down the expenditure on farming soon after the TDP comes to power.

Stating that stringent action will be initiated against those who are now selling spurious seeds, Lokesh said that the Vedavathi project will be completed with eight TMC feet capacity. Though the TDP did not win the Alur Assembly seat in 2014, the then chief minister, Chandrabbau Naidu, never neglected this area, he said.

Assuring the farmers that Minimum Support Price (MSP) will be provided for tomato, the TDP national general secretary said that Jagan, who promised rythu rajyam before coming to power, has now turned the State without any farming. Cotton farmers were the worst affected during the YSRCP rule, he said and asked the farmers not to sign on the agreements on meters for motors. “The TDP will certainly stand by you,” he said.

Lokesh asked as to why the remaining works of irrigation projects are not being taken up. Almost 90 per cent of the Handri Neeva project works were completed during the TDP regime, but Jagan did not take any measures to complete the remaining 1o percent works, he pointed out.

As Lokesh’s pada yatra entered the Alur Assembly segment, he was given a warm welcome by the party leaders, Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy, Kotla Sujathamma and Kotla Raghavendra Reddy besides scores of party activists.

Later, the villagers of Gudimiralla met Lokesh and submitted a memorandum to him in which they said that the farmers are not getting MSP for tomatoes and onion. Lokesh promised to pay the MSP once the TDP forms the government again.