Farmers sow record 1.2cr acres in state

New projects, bountiful rain may see TS exceed target

A record of 1.2 crore acres have been sown in Telangana state this year, an increase of almost 30 per cent from the previous Kharif season, on the back of good rains and improved irrigation facilities.

Farmers have completed sowing operations in 1,20,97, 825 as on date. Agriculture minister S. Niranjan Reddy told Deccan Chronicle that during the last Kharif season farmers had sown various crops in 80,02,348 acres.

He said the agriculture department target was 1,25,45,506 acres, but the area will likely to reach 1.30 crore acres during the monsoon season.

The minister said that with the increased availability of water resources apart from the Rythu Bandhu assistance, free power supply and other incentives being provided by the state government, the state has witnessed huge growth in the area sown for cropping.

Niranjan Reddy said the farmers took up agricultural activities as per the regulated farming proposed by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Responding to the appeal by the Chief Minister, the farmers have taken up cotton as a major crop in more than 50 per cent of the area, he added. He explained that normal cotton cultivation area was 44.5 lakh acres, but in this season so far cotton was sown more than 55 lakh acres.

During a recent interaction, the Chief Minister had appealed to farmers that “those cultivating maize during the monsoon should switch over to cotton and grams. Be cautious about the paddy varieties. Cultivate those varieties, which have demand in the market. There is a lot of demand for Telangana Sona variety. Cultivate that. There is an international market for rice of 6.5 mm size. Cultivate that variety.”

The minister said that this appeal has been yielding good results and farmers sown paddy as the second major crop. Many of them choose the Telangana Sona variety and maize cultivation has come down drastically when compared to last year.

The minister said that the state government has procured

64.14 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, 92,6680 tonnes of maize 83,585 tonnes of Bengal gram

6,193 tonnes sunflower and 17,172 tonnes of jowar produced under the Rabi season 2019-20 by spending `13,787 crores, despite of financial constraints due to Covid-19 crisis.