The Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to commemorate July 8 the birth anniversary of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy as 'Farmers Day' every year henceforth.

Speaking to presspersons after the review meeting with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Saturday, Agriculture Minister Kurasala Kannababu said that a decision was taken to draw and converge people's and government agencies' focus on issues about the farming community. Henceforth, officials from State to block level would meet and discuss farmers' issues one day in every month to bail them out of the crisis.

A Rs 3,000 crore stabilisation fund and a Rs 2,000 crore disaster relief fund would be set up for the benefit of farmers, and the same would be brought under the ambit of Agriculture Mission, he said.

Specialised laboratories would be established one per every constituency to test and weed out spurious seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. Changes would be brought in tenant farmers' laws for the benefit of tenant farmers without affecting the rights of landowners. Orders were issued to bankers to ensure that farmers were not put to inconvenience in collecting loans, he added.