KLIS impacts lives of farmers in Siddipet for the good

Cultivation of paddy in Siddipet district has gone up from 1.06 lakh acres during Yasangi in 2016-17 to 3.48 lakh acres in 2022-23

Siddipet: Reservoirs built in the district as part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) have brought about a world of change in the lives of farmers in Siddipet, which was known as a drought-prone area before the creation of Telangana.

Not only has the area under cultivation increased, but agricultural productivity has also gone up considerably over the last few years. The farmers of Siddipet district had cultivated paddy in 1.06 lakh acres in the 2016-17 Yasangi season. Now, courtesy KLIS, the area under paddy has increased to 3.48 lakh acres, registering a 230 per cent increase in 2022-23. The area under Yasangi paddy cultivation also went up by 76,000 acres in 2021-22 to 2.62 lakh acres now. The paddy harvest from each acre also went up by 7 to 8 quintals during the period.

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Farmers here used to get 20 quintals of paddy harvest per acre during Yasangi in 2016, which has now increased to 27 to 29 quintals per acre.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Siddipet District Agriculture Officer Korrapati Shivaprasad attributed the increase in area and productivity to KLIS, Rythu Bandhu, 24×7 power supply and the appointment of agriculture extension officers to all clusters.

Paddy farmer from Narayanraopet, T Swamy said they were using proper fertilisers on time to the paddy crop besides spraying pesticides because they had enough money in their hand at the time of cultivation, courtesy Rythu Bandhu. Swamy said the crops used to go dry due to lack of water and irregular power supply back then. However, the situation has changed now with tanks and streams in the district brimming with water as water is being regularly released from Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar and Ranganayaka Sagar.

While agriculture and civil supplies officers were expecting over 8 lakh metric tonnes of paddy harvest, the highest ever in Yasangi, the officials were preparing to open 416 procurement centres across the district with an aim of procuring 6 lakh metric tonnes. A major part of the rest of the paddy harvest will be kept by farmers for their domestic use and the remaining is expected to be purchased by private players.