Regulated, diversified farming gaining traction: Niranjan Reddy

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s appeal to farmers for regulated and diversified farming is gaining traction among farmers as the crop cultivation area of cotton, pulses and oil crops have improved significantly, said Agriculture Minister S Nirajan Reddy.

He said as per the Chief Minister’s directions, arrangements were being made to purchase the entire paddy yield in the State from the doorsteps of farmers’ residences. About 1.32 crore tonnes of paddy production is estimated across the State.

Speaking to mediapersons at the Ministers’ Quarters here on Tuesday, Niranjan Reddy stressed the need for change in crop cultivation by adopting modern methods and crops which have demand in the market. He urged farmers to increase cultivation of cotton, groundnut and toor dal in the wake of increased crop cultivation in the State. He pointed out that all three crops which were suggested by the Chief Minister for Yasangi season witnessed good yield and received remunerative prices in the market. “This is both a happy and scary moment for all of us. While we are happy that the cultivation area has increased, it is also difficult as we need to ensure that farmers get remunerative prices for their hard work,” he said.

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The Minister advised the farmers not to cultivate coarse variety of paddy in the upcoming Vaanakalam season as the supply was more than demand. Amid speculation that the Central government might give up certain responsibilities towards farmers, the State government already commenced taking measures to safeguard the farmers from its adverse impact. He said Earnest and Young have been conducting a scientific study on the crop cultivation in the State. “Based on its report, we will conduct training and awareness programmes for our farmers to enable them earn profits by cultivating crops that have demand in the market,” he added.

Further, the Minister said there are godowns of about 65 lakh tonnes capacity in the State and in the wake of increasing crop production, the government was constructing godowns with capacity of 40 lakh tonnes. He said the Central Warehousing Corporation was also showing interest to construct godowns in the State.

As per the directions of Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao, the officials are making arrangements to open paddy procurement centres in every village across the State. Niranjan Reddy said the paddy yield is expected to be around 1.32 crore tonnes in Yasangi season and of this, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) agreed to purchase about 80 lakh tonnes. “We expect tha remaining 20 lakh tonnes will be purchased by the traders in the market, while 10 lakh tonnes each will be required for seeds and ration supplies. Adequate paddy purchase centres will be opened across the State to complete the procurement processes within stipulated time,” he said. He pointed out that like last year, the State government was purchasing the entire paddy crop in view of Covid-19 pandemic.

Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation chairman Mareddy Srinivas Reddy, Principal Secretary for Agriculture B Janardhan Reddy, Civil Supplies Commissioner Anil Kumar, Marketing Director Laxmi Bai, and other officials were present.

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