The Telangana Government decided to go with a new agricultural policy in the State with an aim of expansion of irrigation and huge paddy crop production this season.
Under the new agriculture policy, the State Government would decide what to grow and farmers need to follow the same.
The changes in the agricultural pattern was made due to the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19. Focusing on the agriculture scenario, K. Chandrashekar Rao, the Chief Minister of Telangana, intensified his efforts to consolidate the gains in the primary sector.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Government said the regulatory agriculture cultivation would benefit the farmers of Telangana. The suggestion to grow crops would be given after research and the inputs by agriculture experts.
The new cropping pattern would come into effect from this monsoon season and is expected to bring a big transformation to the sector.
KCR on the 12th of May, conducted a meeting with the State Agriculture department and said, “The main reason why farmers are not getting competitive prices for their produce is cultivating the same crops. I have been saying this for 20 years. The practice of everyone cultivating the same crops should go.”
KCR also discussed comprehensive agriculture policy with agriculture experts, scientists and officials. A study was done on what crops and to what extent should be cultivated in the state and what strategy should be followed to sell the produce.
In addition, the Government would pay Minimum Support Price (MSP) for only those crops cultivated on its suggestion and farmers not following its suggestion will be denied the benefits of Rythu Bandhu scheme.
Farmers would get investment support of Rs 5,000 per acre every year if they follow the new pattern suggested by the State Government.
The State would support approximately 60 to 65 lakh farmers and about 90 to 95 % of the state’s population depend on agriculture and allied sectors for their livelihood.
With this new policy, the State Government claimed to solve the majority of issues in the agricultural sector faced by farmers. To achieve the goal, the State Government would give 24X7 free electricity to the agriculture sector. The State Government is also confident that by next year monsoon season, water will be available for irrigation in every part of the state.
Stating that Telangana is on its way to become the rice bowl of the country, KCR said in the days to come, paddy would be cultivated in 90 lakh acres every year. About 2.70 crore tonnes of paddy is expected to be grown.
Despite the financial crisis due to the lockdown, the Government is spending Rs 25,000 crore to buy the paddy cultivated by the farmers on nearly 40 lakh acres during the ongoing Rabi season. The state expects a yield of more than one crore tonnes, the highest for the season since 2014.
However, the State Government said, “The government cannot do this every year. This is so because the government is not a business organisation. If the crop cultivated has demand in the market it will get a good price.”
Officials pointed out that paddy in the state can be cultivated in 80-90 lakh acres in two crops every year. Similarly, cotton can be grown in 50 lakh acres, tur dal in 10 lakh acres, corn in 7 lakh acres, various seeds in 7 lakh acres, vegetables in 3.5 lakh acres, groundnut in 2.5 Lakh acres, turmeric in 1.25 Lakh acres and other crops like millets, black gram, green gram, til, mustard in 2 lakh acres.
Stay tuned for further updates.
