TS eyes 1.4 cr acres of land under cultivation this Vaanakalam
State govt has been strongly promoting cultivation of alternative crops including cotton, red gram, vegetables and fruits among others in tune with the market demand
Hyderabad: Telangana is gearing up to take up crop cultivation in about 1.4 crore acres during Vaanakalam (Kharif) season this year, a marginal increase over the 1.35 crore acres cultivated during the same season last year. With the arrival of southwest monsoon, agricultural operations have already begun in several parts of the State which are expected to pick up pace over the next week.
For the current monsoon season, the State government has been strongly promoting cultivation of alternative crops including cotton, red gram, vegetables and fruits among others in tune with the market demand. Farmers are being advised to cultivate market-driven crops to ensure remunerative price for their produce.
“Farmers are requested to cultivate crops which have demand in the market and make agriculture a profitable profession. Paddy is being cultivated excessively and as a result, farmers are likely to lose remunerative price for their produce. Instead, farmers should take up cultivation of cotton, redgram, oil seeds and other horticultural crops to earn good returns,” Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy told Telangana Today.
The government suggested farmers to reduce paddy cultivation area from 53.33 lakh acres during Vaanakalam last year to 41.85 lakh acres during this season. During last crop year (Vaanakalam and Yasangi for 2020-21), paddy was cultivated in over 1.06 crore acres resulting an yield of about 2 crore tonnes of which the State government procured nearly 1.5 crore tonnes. However, there was an adverse impact of excess arrival of paddy in the market and farmers were unable to get remunerative price. As per directions from Chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, the officials concerned are holding meetings with the farmers to convince them and bring down the paddy cultivation by at least 12 to 15 lakh acres in the current Vaanakalam season.
Meanwhile, top priority is being given for cultivation of cotton and redgram in the State during the Vaanakalam season. The Agriculture department has set a target of cultivating the crop in a whopping 70 lakh acres during this Vaanakalam season against 60.53 lakh acres cultivated during previous Vaankalam season. Though it stands second in terms of cultivation area after Maharashtra, the State is largest producer of cotton in the country due to its high yield. Further, the cotton produced in the State has been already recognised by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) as a top quality product in the country as well as international market.
Similarly, redgram is likely to be cultivated in about 20 lakh acres in Vaanakalam this year, double the cultivation area of 10.84 lakh acres during previous Vaanakalam season. The government has also proposed for marginal increase in cultivation of jowar, pulses including redgram, greengram, blackgram and bengal gram, and oil seeds including ground nut. However, it has decided to discourage cultivation of soya and maize. Cultivation area of soya has been reduced from four lakh acres during previous Vaanakalam season to 1.33 lakh acres during the current Vaanakalam season, while maize cultivation area also has been decreased marginally from 2.29 lakh acres last year to 2.27 lakh acres this year.
The officials of the Market Analysis wing of the Agriculture department carried out an extensive study of the market and also obtained necessary information from farmers, traders, field-level agriculture officers and also agricultural experts. Accordingly, they came to a conclusion that cotton and redgram have huge potential for farming in the State. A list of 36 priority crops have been prepared covering both Vaanakalam and Yasangi seasons, to ensure that crops with less or no demand are discouraged to ensure remunerative price for farmers.
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