Telangana farmers give a thumbs-up for regulated farming

Telangana farmers give a thumbs-up for regulated farming

Nalgonda: Farmers in the Nalgonda district are backing the decision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on regulated farming and are confident that the reforms will make agriculture more profitable for them.

Chintha Saidulu, the president of Dhandempally village committee of Rythu Samanvaya Samithi, said the Chief Minister had changed the fate of the farmers with a series of initiatives, including Rythu Bandhu.

The regulated farming, which was a brainchild of the Chief Minister, would bring in a new revolution in the agriculture sector in the State and stand as a model to the entire country. He reminded that Chandrashekhar Rao had made it clear during a video conference that all the crops, which would be taken up by the farmers as per the regulated farming, would be purchased by the State government at the minimum support price (MSP).

‘Supply quality seed’

Nandyala Venkat Reddy, the Kattangur mandal president of Rythu Samanvaya Samithi, said the State government had taken to the regulated farming based on demand for each crop. Hence, it would ensure good price to crops produced by the farmers. The government should supply quality seed to the farmers to get good results, he added.

Financial support

N Yadagiri, a farmer from Gattu Singaram, said the new concept would benefit farmers and that they need to bear additional expenditure for switching over from one crop to another to prepare the agricultural field. He said if farmers were asked to cultivate cotton in fields where paddy was sown earlier, they need to spend more to level the fields. The State government should extend one-time additional investment support for such purpose.

‘Future of farmers in safe hands’

Wanaparthy: Any change is not welcomed that easily. The newly introduced regulated farming policy is one such change which Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao asserts would bring about a major change in the lives of farmers across the State for the better, said Jagadeeshwar Reddy, the president of the Wanaparthy district’s Rythu Bandhu Committee.

Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’ on the issue, he allayed fears about the impact of the new policy. He said there was a need to discourage farmers from cultivating maize in the State this Vaanakalam season. He reasoned that the cost of procuring maize from farmers was going beyond Rs 1,760 per quintal in the State while it could be procured from States like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh for as low as Rs 1,300 per quintal.

“We already have enough stock of maize in our godowns for the next one year. If farmers keep cultivating maize, there won’t be a marketing mechanism for procurement. Therefore, the State government is encouraging the cultivation of cotton,” Jagadeeshwar Reddy said.

He said the idea of increasing the cotton production stemmed from Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s brilliance as he knew that some countries were ready to import cotton by paying good price. Regarding the shortage of labour with respect to cotton picking, he said the State government was planning to procure by Yasangi the machinery which would harvest cotton just like a paddy harvester. He said the government was also going to procure a new variety of cotton seeds wherein the entire crop matures at a time and could be harvested at once.

Reddy said there was sufficient information with the State government regarding all the crops and their demand in domestic as well as international markets. He also said currently vegetables were being produced across 3.5 lakh acres in Telangana and the State government has directed the Department of Horticulture to identify new areas close to cities where horticultural farming could be encouraged to meet the local demand.

“Initially we had some doubts in our minds, but after listening to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s plans, we are convinced that the future of Telangana’s farmers is safe and bright in the hands of the State government headed by him,” he concluded.