HYDERABAD: Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy said here on Friday that the suicides by farmers had begun "in a small way" in the drought-affected districts like Anantapur, Kurnool and Chittoor following withering of crops caused by a prolonged dry spell.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Raghuveera Reddy confirmed seven out of 10 reported suicides by farmers in Anantapur district and appealed to the ryots to desist from taking the extreme step in view of the "big package" in the offing. He said reports of all except the seven suicides in Anantapur were untrue.

The Minister told reporters here on Friday that the standard package of relief, including ex gratia for the bereaved families, would be extended in all the confirmed cases. He appealed to the farmers not to get distressed and report their problems to the agriculture officers who had been asked to extend the necessary help.

Big package soon

He advised the farmers not to entertain any fear about the future as a big package on the lines of one launched for the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra was likely to be announced for the State in three days.

The package would ensure waiver of the accumulated interest on all loans taken from cooperative banks and financial institutions up to June 2006 and fresh loans with a three-year moratorium.

Mr Reddy said the drought was severe in Kadapa, Anantapur, Chittoor and Prakasam and partial in Mahabubnagar, Kurnool and Nalgonda. The Government had treated these areas as severely drought-affected but would not make a formal declaration to this effect till the monsoon ends. Crops in over 70,000 hectares had withered, mostly in Chittoor, he said.

He said 10 lakh hectares of land was left uncultivated in the State as a whole for kharif. Agriculture contingency plans were being altered as and when the local situation changed for raising alternative crops.

In all, 96,000 quintals of seed were kept ready at the mandal stock points for distribution to the farmers at 50 per cent subsidy, a benefit allowed hitherto only to flood-hit areas.

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