Hyderabad: Chennur MLA Suman encourages farmers to go for alternate crops

Hyderabad: Chennur MLA Balka Suman is taking lead in encouraging the farmers in his constituency to go for alternative crop like oil palm, which has better returns and less scope for damage.

Several MLAs, senior officials including the District Collector took part in the plantation of oil palm saplings in 12 acres of land belonging to the Chennur MLA. Explaining about the crop, Suman said that Chennur constituency has 1.35 lakh acres and the farmers with their routine crop like paddy, cotton, mango etc were failing to get any good returns. The paddy crop takes more water and power and its returns are also not as per expectations, he pointed out.

The MLA said that the Central government is encouraging oil palm farming in an area of at least 45,000 acres in Telangana. The oil palm crop is popular in Ashwaraopeta in Khammam district. The Centre's Re-Assessment Committee have reported that oil palm can be taken up in more than 200 mandals and Chennur too has similar weather to that of Ashwaraopeta. The TS Oil Fed has also issued a GO for starting a palm oil factory, provided the oil palm farming is taken up in 7,500 acres of land. The Kaleshwaram project has become a blessing in disguise for the people of Chennur for availability of water, said Suman.

Suman said that the oil palm crop takes three to four years and in the fourth year it starts yielding profits to the tune of Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 per acre. "My intension is to encourage oil palm crop and for this purpose, I have taken 12 acres of land. The crop gives good returns hence I want other farmers to go for alternative cropping. MLAs of nearby constituencies like Manohar Reddy, K Chander, Diwakar Rao and other party leaders also took part in the plantation," said Suman.

The TRS MLA said that State government was also encouraging the crop by providing 100 per cent subsidy to SCs and STs, 90 per cent subsidy to BCs and 80 per cent to OCs. Apart from this, the government is supplying the saplings, which costs Rs 250 each, to the farmers at Rs 50 each. Only 57 saplings are sowed in each acre and remaining portion of the land in between these saplings can be used for other crop also. It requires less water and it can give good returns, MLA Suman said.