Farmers reap it rich using modern methods in Warangal Rural

Horticulture Department playing a crucial role in encouraging ryots to take up methods such as drip irrigation, mulching system and use of trellis among others

Warangal Rural: Modern farming techniques have helped farmers increase their incomes manifold in Warangal Rural district, with officials of the Horticulture Department playing a crucial role in encouraging them to take up methods such as drip irrigation, mulching system and use of trellis (pandals) among others.

Bommineni Raja Ranga Reddy, a farmer from Elukurthy village of Geesugonda mandal, had given up traditional farming methods and cultivated ridge gourd and bitter gourd in 2.20 acres each, setting up permanent trellis, and using drip irrigation system and mulching methods. The result is an income of Rs 8 lakh for two crops in a year.

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“I got 35 tonnes of ridge gourd and 30 tonnes of bitter gourd. I earned Rs 13 lakh by selling both the crops, and my profit was Rs 8 lakh, up from Rs 2 lakh I got from cultivating maize in the same land earlier,” he told Telangana Today.

Similarly, Dugyala Koteshwar Rao, a farmer from Chintha Nekkonda village of Parvathagiri mandal, cultivated maize in his 1.2 acre of land last year and earned only Rs 40,000 net income. But he turned to bitter gourd cultivation, setting up permanent trellis and using the mulching method. “I got 10 tonnes of bitter gourd this year. The expenditure was Rs 60,300 and the net income Rs 2,39,700, thanks to the encouragement by horticulture officials,” Koteshwar Rao said.

Kuduthala Veeranna of Narakkapet village in Nallabelli mandal, another progressive farmer, has been a source of inspiration for other farmers after he took up horticulture crops instead of raising maize. Like the others, he too earned a mere Rs 40,000 during Vaanakalam in 2019, but when he switched over to watermelon crop in his one acre of land in Yasangi in 2019, he reaped in 15 tonnes of yield. It fetched him a total income of Rs 1,50,000 while the profit was Rs 96,500.

According to District Collector M Haritha, a total of 29,922 farmers have taken to horticulture crops in 51,868 acres. “The crops include fruits, vegetables, turmeric, flowers, mulberry and others,” she said and appreciated District Horticulture and Sericulture Officer R Srinivasa Rao for his efforts in encouraging farmers to take up horticulture crops.

While the government provides a subsidy of Rs 16,000, which is 50 per cent of the total cost for mulching per hectare, it also provides about Rs one lakh subsidy per hectare for the drip irrigation system.

“If the farmer belongs to SC/ST, he will get a 100 per cent subsidy for drip. Similarly, farmers from BC communities, and small and marginal farmers in OC communities will get a 90 per cent subsidy while the others get 80 per cent,” R Srinivasa Rao told Telangana Today.

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