TS farmers switch to red gram from maize for good returns

Hyderabad: Cultivation of maize during the current rainy agriculture season in Telangana is down by about 7 lakh acres. This development comes against the backdrop of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao making an appeal to the farmers not to opt for maize cultivation since it would fetch poor returns.

According to the Telangana State Agriculture Department (TSAD), the State has prescribed planned cultivation of different crops under the regulated farming which was adopted from the current agriculture season.

The total planned extent for regulated farming during the current season was 1.25 crore acres, against which, the farmers have completed the sowing activity in an extent of 1.13 crore acres. It is about 37.36 lakh acres more than the extent of the sown area, around the same time, last year.

Against the backdrop of completion of the sowing activity in 90.43 per cent of the planned area as on August 5, the TSAD officials said that cotton, paddy, red gram followed by soya beans remained the four dominant crops in terms of planned regulate forming.

However, the heartening development is that the farmers have responded positively to the appeal made by the chief minister regarding the cultivation of maize. Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Dr B Janardhan Reddy said that there is no planned extent identified for the cultivation of maize during the current agriculture season to discourage the farmers.

"As against maize area of 10.12 lakh acres during last rainy agriculture season of 2019, the area covered as on August 5, this year is only 1.74 lakh acres. Mostly, it was sown for Green Cob purpose with sweet corn, popcorn, baby corn varieties and for seed production. There is a reduction of 8.38 lakh acres in the area of cultivation of maize," he added.

Further, the reduction in the crop area of maize has been diverted to grow red gram and there is an increase of more than 3 lakh acres from the last year. So far the farmers have competed for the sowing activity of red gram in an extent of 9.54 lakh acres and it is expected to increase further, he said.

Similarly, about 8.65 lakh acres is covered under horticulture crops such as orchards – fruits, perennial crops, red chillies, turmeric, vegetables and other crops. The combined sown area of the agriculture and horticulture crops during the current season till August 5 was 1.22 crore acres as against a planned extent of 1.25 lakh crore.

With an additional sown extent of about 12 lakh acres more during the current season to reaching the planned extended is expected to be completed soon, he said.