Ap Farm Power Demand Rises 25%

A good monsoon this year has posed serious problems for the Andhra Pradesh government in meeting the power requirements of farmers for the rabi crop.

The state electricity board has estimated a 25 per cent increase in demand for power by the farm sector for the coming rabi season: from a daily average of 123 million units in the last season to 155 million units during the coming one.

Even if power is purchased from neighbouring states, the Andhra Pradesh power transmission and distribution system will find it difficult to cope with.

The reason for a sharp anticipated increase in demand is that all irrigation sources are full to the brim, which will tempt the farmer to bring more areas under paddy cultivation.

As there will be no appreciable rain between rabi sowing in November and harvest six months later, once the tanks are empty, farmers will turn pumpsets to tap groundwater, pushing up demand for power.

To avert this crisis months before the state goes in for assembly polls, a high-level conference was held here yesterday.

The conference decided that the agriculture department, the electricity board and the agricultural marketing committees will together educate, motivate and persuade the farmers to shift from paddy to other commercial crops for the coming rabi.

Agriculture secretary, Janat Hussain, argued that since the legislation did not allow them to fix the crop pattern, persuasion was their only option.

"The government's thinking is very clear. It does not want a situation where the farmers suffer for want of power for irrigation just when the paddy is ripe for harvest," power secretary, V Sampath, cautioned the state electricity board. It was also decided that the subsidy be routed through the state electricity board.

The Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, directed around 40 electricity chief engineers and superintending engineers attending the conference to begin the mass education programme in their areas.