Telangana Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said officials to conduct an in-depth study into various issues influencing crop patterns in State and prepare comprehensive agriculture policy to make agriculture profitable for farmers. He wanted them to consider all pros and cons before making any suggestions.
Niranjan Reddy convened an extensive meeting with the officials of agriculture, marketing and Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) at the university on Saturday.
Niranjan Reddy asked the officials to take up field study to identify feasible and affordable crop varieties as well as their market demand. He also wanted them to recommend seed varieties, incentives and supporting system required to farmers.
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He pointed out that despite resources, India was not as progressive as US and China in terms of agriculture even as majority population cannot afford to eat nutritious food as per their needs. He wanted the officials to submit their report before May 18 when the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao will hold a video conference with all stakeholders.
Reddy said the Chief Minister was taking several courageous measures to ensure that farmers earn remunerative price for their produce. He pointed out that due to pro-agricultural schemes by the State government and availability of irrigation water, farmers were largely cultivating paddy.
“But excess cultivation of paddy is leading to other problems including lack of remunerative price. Hence, we need to encourage farmers to diversify and take up cultivation of crops like red gram, mustard, sesame, groundnut, oil palm and other such pulses and oil crops,” he said.
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