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Option for income-generating crops in Telangana, urges Minister S Niranjan Reddy
State Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy stressed on encouraging farmers to opt for alternative and income-generating crops in Telangana.
Hyderabad: State Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy stressed on encouraging farmers to opt for alternative and income-generating crops in Telangana.
He said this while participating at a round table conference along with Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar, held here on Friday at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) to discuss on a comprehensive agriculture policy for Telangana. He said the majority of people in the State are depending on agriculture and allied sectors as it is their main avocation and providing livelihoods for more number of people. He said that the State government schemes like providing irrigation water, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bhima, free power schemes and 100 per cent procurement of paddy have given confidence to the farmers in the State.
However, a need is felt to focus on agriculture production in the State in line with the food requirement of people in Telangana. Besides, the State should also compete in marketing its agriculture produce with others in the country. As part of the policy, he urged the scientists to develop seeds that provide higher yield with minimum investment to maximise income to the farmers.
Regarding encouraging alternative crops, the minister said farmers can make use of the opportunity to cultivate oil palm as the Centre is encouraging the same. It will not only provide year-long income but farmers can also go for inter-cropping for four years.
That apart, he urged the agriculture scientists to figure out solutions for making cultivation of maize, jowar and other crops profitable. Because farmers in the state are not coming forward to cultivate these crops since they find them not profitable. Another area to encourage farmers is to opt for the cultivation of seeds as one-third of the seed requirement of the country is meat from Telangana. As part of this, cultivation of sesame and mustard seed could be encouraged in North Telangana, he added.
Civil Supplies minister said the Kaleswara Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) waters helped in cultivating paddy in about 40 lakh acres during Yesangi. However, there is a need to ensure farmers fetch suitable income to match their hard work. To achieve this, he asked scientists and agriculture officials to discuss and give their suggestions, basing on which, the State government will take appropriate decisions, he added.
