Telangana State government seeks Centre's nod for procuring farm produce at MSP

Hyderabad: Telangana State government asked the Centre to give the authority to procure agriculture produce at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the States.

Participating in the 91st Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Delhi on Thursday, State Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said, "If the Centre wanted to double the income of farmers by 2020, it should give the authority to procure farm produce to the States at the MSP rates." He demanded immediate steps in this direction from the Centre.

Giving reasons for the demand, he said that there are differences in the production and expenditure depending on the geographical conditions of each State. Hence, the authority to procure agriculture produce at MSP should be left to the States, he stated.

He mentioned that the State has been giving top priority to agriculture under the direction of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, like launching Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, Mission Kakatiya and other schemes to strengthen the farming sector.

The face of Telangana is fast changing with the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, he said, adding the proactive steps of the government have been resulting in an increase in the extent of agriculture and horticultural crops in Telangana.

Against this backdrop, the Minister asked the Centre to extend its support to the agriculture mechanisation in the State.

That apart, the Minister said that the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) has established laboratories for organic fertilisers, biotechnology, soil health, seed technology and atmospheric sciences.

The university has also established to conduct research on the impact and residues of insecticides on the food crops. The university has also released high yield varieties of paddy, maize, red gram, green gram and 13 other seeds in the last five years, he explained.

Niranjan said steps have been initiated to develop the State as seed capital, besides, the university has conducted a survey on the food habits of the people to develop crop colonies to meet the needs and to stabilise prices of the agriculture and allied produce.

The Minister also explained that the initiatives of the State government in the agriculture sector has yielded agriculture produce of 130 lakh tonnes, which was 40.8 per cent more than the preceding year.

In turn, the State government is giving priority to the food processing industries and asked for the support of the Centre. Also, sanctioning of a project on mustered and water management and establishing more Krishi Vigyan Kendras in 33 districts of the State.

When the Minister sought the Centre to hike the quota for procuring an additional 50,000 metric tonnes of red gram, the Union Agriculture Minister has responded positively asking to send a letter for the same, the Minister said.