South India's first 'Kisan Rail' connects Andhra's Anantapur to Delhi

Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy and Union Ministers on Wednesday inaugurated the service of a 'Kisan Rail' from Anantapur to New Delhi.

According to an official release, Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi and Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, the CM thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and Suresh C Angadi, Minister of State for Railways, for starting the second Kisan Rail, first from South India, to transport horticulture produce from the state to Delhi.

The Kisan Rail cargo from Anantapur was carrying 214 tonnes of tomatoes, 138 tonnes of banana, 32 tonnes of sweet orange, 11 tonnes of papaya, eight tonnes of melons, and three tonnes of mangoes to Delhi.

CM Reddy said that nearly 312 lakh metric tonnes of horticulture produce are being harvested across the state in 17.42 lakh hectares, standing with 15.6 per cent share of fruit production in the country.

"Though the state stands as the fruit capital of South India, it was difficult to tap into the market out of Andhra Pradesh, which even worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the hard times, the state government didn't abandon farmers and indeed provided many more benefits by collecting the products and exporting to other states," the release read.

The Chief Minister requested the Railway officials to reduce the fares of Kisan Rail as they are slightly on the higher side and asked to provide a good remunerative price for the farmers.

The state government had taken up a lot of initiatives in the agricultural sectors that benefit farmers and even went ahead in providing Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the farmers by introducing the Market Intervention Fund.

"During the coronavirus crisis, tonnes of fruits and vegetables were exported from Anantapur to Mumbai port through 11 special trains. Nearly 45,000 tonnes of bananas, 1,185 tonnes of vegetables, 1,471 tonnes of fresh mangoes, and 8,000 tonnes of mango pulp were exported to other countries," the release added.

( With inputs from ANI )