Telangana Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao has asked the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and other stakeholders to take the latest technologies and innovations to rural areas so that small and marginal farmers would get access to them.

“They have been following traditional farming methods since they lacked knowledge about the latest advances. You need to go to villages and ensure that they get access to the latest methods and practices,” he said.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the three-day CII AgriTech South conference and exhibition here on Friday, he asked the CII to organise similar conferences and exhibitions in rural areas.

CII (Telangana Chairman) C Shekar Reddy agreed to the Minister’s proposal and asked for the government’s support in holding the conferences in rural areas.

Need of the hour

He said there was a need to adopt an Agri-cluster Development Approach based on the production strengths of different agroclimatic regions and land management units.

He said the State should start a Horticulture Mission and an Oilseeds Mission in tune with the national efforts.

He also wanted the government to introduce a Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) Policy to bring farmers producing different crops.

M Raghunandan Rao, Agriculture Secretary (government of Telangana), said that farmers faced risks in every crop cycle and they needed all support, including from seed companies. He said the government was contemplating introducing crop insurance and the Rythu Bharosa assistance to ₹15,000 an acre.

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