Telangana cultivated paddy even before creation of Andhra State

Paddy was the second most important crop cultivated in Telangana after Cotton way back in 1950-51 before merging with Andhra to create Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Call it arrogance or ignorance, but the leaders of Andhra Pradesh like TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu refuse to mend their ways when it comes to Telangana and its people. Though Telangana has been in the forefront in different sectors especially tank irrigation and agriculture, the rulers of Coastal Andhra continue to down play and ridicule Telangana.

Naidu claimed that people of Telangana got to eat rice only after TDP came to power in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. However, little was he aware that Paddy was the second most important crop cultivated in Telangana after Cotton way back in 1950-51 before merging with Andhra to create Andhra Pradesh.

As per the latest records available with the State Agriculture department as well as in the public domain, the annual acreage under Paddy in the then Telangana (comprising parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka part of erstwhile Hyderabad State) varied from 1.2 crore acres in 1942-43 to 1.6 crore acres in 1951-52.

According to the Economics and Statistics department of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana accounted for nearly 20 lakh tonnes out of total 70 lakh tonnes of paddy produced in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in 1980-81, i.e., even before Telugu Desam Party was founded on March 29, 1982. During the period, paddy was cultivated majorly in select districts of Coastal Andhra i.e., Krishna, Guntur, Nellore, East and West Godavari as well as Kurnool of Rayalaseema. However, paddy has been a major crop cultivated in seven of 10 districts in Telangana i.e., Mahabubnagar, Medak, Khammam, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda.

Further, it may be noted that Telangana was blessed with the chain of irrigation tanks developed during the Kakatiya period between 12th and 14th centuries which acted as a major irrigation source for cultivation in Telangana. Irrigation experts point out that Coastal Andhra region had witnessed major irrigation projects only in 1850s after Sir Arthur Cotton constructed several barrages and canal systems to supply irrigation water to paddy fields.