Warangal: Oil palm unit in Thorrur soon, assures Errabelli

Warangal: Oil palm cultivation will be a game-changer, Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao told the farmers. Interacting with the farmers at Gantlakunta and Pochampally villages under Pedda Vangara in Mahabubabad district on Monday, the Minister accused the BJP-led Central government of creating confusion among the farmers over the procurement of paddy produced in the yasangi (rabi).

"Instead of going for the paddy in the rabi, oil palm cultivation is ideal for the farmers. Farmers could earn Rs 1.20 lakh per acre if they cultivate oil palm. The government is also providing subsidies to encourage oil palm farming," Errabelli said. He said that a plan is on the anvil to establish an oil palm processing unit in Thorrur so that farmers will not have to go to Khammam or Andhra Pradesh to sell their produce. Moreover, there was a scope for intercropping in the grown up oil palm, he added.

Referring to the ambiguity over purchasing paddy produce in the rabi, he appealed to the paddy farmers to look for other alternative crops. Some farmers told the Minister that they are ready to cultivate pulses and millets but they are scared of monkeys damaging the crops. Responding to them, Errabelli said that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been encouraging plantation drives to address monkey menace.

In another programme, priests working with the Endowments Department led by Telangana Archaka Udyoga JAC convener DVR Sharma met the Minister and thanked him for bringing grant in aid archakas under the ambit of pay revision commission (PRC). They urged the Minister to regularise the services of 1,252 temporary archakas. Speaking to them, Errabelli said that temples in the State are being developed by KCR. "The government also made a budget allocation of Rs 152 crore for the salaries of the archakas. Yadadri temple is being renovated with an estimated cost of Rs 1,800 crore and will be one of the best in the country," Errabelli said.