In a 1st, Telangana to tell its farmers what to grow when | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: Telangana has become perhaps the first state in the country that will tell its farmers what to grow when as part of a pilot project.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao issued a statement on Tuesday saying the change would begin with paddy which will be limited to 50 lakh acres. Redgram, another important crop, will be limited to 10 lakh acres. The government will soon announce what crops should be cultivated in which areas. Officials said the state government will not extend Rythu Bandhu scheme and Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers who don’t follow the new directives. At present the state gives Rs 10,000 per acre per year to each farmer whether he cultivates the land or not. The statement said regulatory cultivation would benefit farmers as it would help get minimum support price and ensure demand for their produce. To convey this message KCR will interact with field officials on May 15. The state would also set up a seed regulatory authority to check spurious seeds in the state.

The chief minister added that presently conditions are “if someone wants to sell the crop produced there are no buyers and if someone wants to buy the agriculture produce, the prices are sky high. This situation has been in vogue for several years and should go now ”. The state suggested that the Telangana Sona variety of paddy should be cultivated in 10 lakh acres, cotton in 50 lakh acres and redgram in 10 lakh acres. The government also decided to encourage vegetables in farmland near urban areas. The government will also suggest to farmers which vegetables should be grown in which areas. “I have been saying that farmers should go in for crops that have demand for the past 20 years since I was transport minister.
The practice of everyone cultivating the same crop should end, ”the CM said. The new seed regulatory authority will ensure that only seeds of crops identified by the government are sold. If need be, the government would bring changes in the Seed Act. The CM decided to have an exclusive meeting with the representatives of seed companies soon. He also announced deterrent action against companies that sell spurious or fake seeds. “The government will identify those making and selling fake and spurious seeds and book them under PD Act. Since the government feels that there will be large dumping of the fake cotton and red chilli seeds, strict measures are in place to stop this menace,” KCR said.