Telangana: Chia cultivation is new favourite for farmers in Sangareddy district

New practise of cultivating Chia seeds across the Karnataka border in Sangareddy district is being witnessed now

Sangareddy: There is a new favourite crop for farmers living along the Karnataka border nowadays. They are slowly shifting to cultimation of Chia seed cultivation. Hitherto, they used to cultivate Sunflower, Maize and other crops during summer.

They seemed tohave drawn inspiration from their counterparts across the border in sowing Chia, which has its origins in Mexico. Chia sees know for their rich fibre content are in good demand now. Moreover, the farmers said they had cultivated the crop to beat the monkey and wild boar menace since they would not eat the crop. The 90-day crop is nurtured with a dry irrigation (ID) method. Irrigating the crop once a week would be enough.

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The farmers of Dhanasri, Gopanpally and other villages in Mogudampally were cultivating the crop for the third consecutive year while farmers in Nagur-K, Bhimra, and other villages in Karnataka started cultivating the crop from 2023 Yasangi. The total area under chia cultivation in Sangareddy increased to 50 acres within three years.

Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’, Sanju Patil, a resident of Nagur-K, said he had decided to cultivate chia over the regular crop of safflower upon seeing the success of farmers in Karnataka. After getting a rich harvest, he again cultivated the crop this year while two others followed him. The farmers here were getting 5 to 7 quintals of harvest per acre. The farmers were selling their produce to Bidar-based traders. Since it is a comparatively new crop in the district, officials said there was no mechanism to purchase the seeds. Many farmers would switch to Chia.

Patil said the crop would need little management because it would attract no pests at all. Another farmer Siddappa urged the government to support the farmers by guiding them in purchasing the seeds and selling the produce avoiding the involvement of middlemen, to improve the profits.