Rythu Bandhu benefits have been withdrawn to a farmer from Mahabubnagar rural mandal who was found to have grown cannabis plants in his agricultural field last October.
G Chandraiah, a resident of Manikonda village of Mahabubnagar mandal, was caught growing cannabis plants in his 1.5 acres farm, by officials of the Excise and Prohibition and revenue departments. The issue was brought to the notice of district Collector S Venkata Rao.
The government is offering 5000 per acre every season to 60 lakh farmers to encourage agriculture investment twice a year, during the rabi (Yasangi) and kharif (Rainy) seasons. This is India’s first direct farmer investment assistance initiative, in which cash is provided directly to farmers.
The Rythu Bandhu scheme is a farmer investment scheme recently launched in Telangana wherein the government gives farmers an incentive of Rs.4000 for each acre of land as investment for the crop.
The farmers need not approach private money-lenders for marginal loans to buy seeds, fertilizers etc. Rythu Bandhu installment can aid their purchase of inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, labor and other investments in the field operations. The farmer can decide his choice of crop for the season and the scheme does not dictate what crop the farmer can take.