Govt. urged to strengthen Horticulture department

Horticultural Department Officers Association, State president Gudimalla Sandeep Kumar and Secretary Ravula Vidyasagar have urged the government to strengthen the Horticulture department by appointing full-fledged staff to support farmers. The number of current employees has remained unchanged since its sanction in 1982, despite the vast potential for growth in vegetable, fruit and palm oil cultivation.

A team from the association met with key officials, including State Agriculture and Horticulture Minister Tummala Nageswar Rao, Planning Commission Vice-Chairman G. Chinna Reddy and State Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Commission Chairman M. Kodanda Reddy here on Tuesday. They submitted a memorandum highlighting the need for additional staff, citing that each Horticulture Officer has to travel to 5-10 mandals, and only 100 personnel are working at the field level across the State.

The association demanded that new posts be sanctioned, particularly Horticulture Extension Officer positions at the field level, similar to the Agriculture department. They also stressed the need to double the number of existing horticultural officers to ensure adequate coverage.