Nagarkurnool farm sector gets booster dose

Nagarkurnool: With the appointment of 54 new Agriculture Extension Officers (AEOs) in Nagarkurnool district, agriculture sector is all set for a big boost in the coming days.

According to District Collector E Sridhar, majority of the people in Nagarkurnool district are predominantly depending on agriculture sector for employment and this sector has been marred with total distraught due to lack of Agriculture Extension Officers.

Adding to it, consecutive droughts have totally crippled the economic conditions of the farmers. “Nagarkurnool is predominantly an agriculture dependent district and unfortunately it is hit by consecutive droughts during the past few years.

This has impacted on the financial and economic conditions of the poor farmers who are debt-ridden and deeply in depression.

Moreover, the district was also lacking adequate number of Agriculture Extension Officers to guide and motivate farmers in the right direction. Having realised this, we requested the government to allocate AEOs and the government has immediately obliged our request.

We thank the government for allocating 54 AEOs to the district and we are hopeful that very soon Nagarkurnool will transform into an agriculture belt,” said Sridhar.

In fact, after the segregation of Nagarkurnool from Mahbubnagar, the district has emerged as the largest district and its main source of income is only agriculture.

However, the district had only 35 AEOs and 16 Agriculture Officers, which was inadequate to cater to the needs of more than 2.15 lakh farming households with a total cultivated area of nearly 2 lakh hectares.

To meet the requirements of the entire district it needed at least 73 additional AEOs, however the State government had granted 54 AEOs which will now total to 89.

While addressing an the orientation programme on the occasion of taking charge of new AEOs in the district, the Collector asked the AEOs to put their hundred percent of efforts to transform Nagarkurnool one of the top agricultural districts in Telangana.

“The district is newly formed and it is going through various challenges in the agriculture sector. All the AEOs must work carefully and responsibly. Make your beginning impressive and it will give you strong foundation for growth.

With your responsible services to the farming community, you can earn name and fame and command respect,” observed the Collector.

The main responsibility of the newly-appointed AEOs is to meet farmers, hold regular meetings with them and advising them on what crops to be sown based on the availability of water.

They must also provide new information and innovative farming techniques to overcome the challenges of conventional farming methods. “Farmers are usually following the age-old practices.

This need to be changed and they must be encouraged to take up new methods. Moreover, in the recent days due to lack of adequate rainfall and regular drought like conditions many farmers have become debt-ridden.

They are becoming depressed and resorting to take extreme steps of committing suicides. Here lies the responsibility of the extension officers to identify such farmers and counsel them and give them hope on the future,” said the Collector.

District Agriculture Officer Singa Reddy and Chief Planning Officer Janardhan also took part in the orientation programme. All newly-appointed AEO will be given two days training before inducting them into the service.