Farmers stage tractor rally ahead of Rayalaseema horticulture hub launch

Farmers drove 300 tractors through Pulivendula in Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa district on Wednesday in support of a planned ₹1-lakh-crore horticulture hub in the Rayalaseema region. The project is scheduled to be launched at Madanapalle on October 2 under the banner “Rising Rayalaseema”. Chief Minister N.

Chandrababu Naidu and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are due to lay its foundation stone. The Centre will provide ₹40,000 crore under the Purvodaya scheme, while another ₹60,000 crore is expected from private investment, according to the report. The proposed development is intended to support the large-scale development, maintenance and protection of orchards.

Farmers said the rally was held to thank the Chief Minister for announcing the project and to express support for it. S. Savitha, the Minister for Backward Classes Welfare and district in-charge Minister, flagged off the procession and joined it.

Savitha called farmers central to the project’s success and asked horticulture cluster members to explain its benefits to other farmers. She urged the 3,000 farmers belonging to the district’s 30 horticulture clusters to attend the Madanapalle event. District Collector Sridhar Cherukuri also called on farmers to participate.

He said the event would provide an opportunity to understand issues including cultivation, water management, cold storage, value addition, exports and marketing. TDP Pulivendula constituency in-charge Mareddy Ravindranath Reddy, known as B.Tech Ravi, praised Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan.

He cited drinking-water schemes and irrigation works in the constituency while arguing that the NDA government had not discriminated against Pulivendula in development efforts. The project’s supporters described the proposed horticulture hub as a potential turning point for the region. The supplied material did not provide a detailed implementation timetable beyond the planned foundation-stone ceremony.