Telangana is convincing farmers to gradually go in for diversification of crops to overcome the problem of surplus paddy production in the long-term, the State Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy has said.

“We are gradually convincing farmers to go in for diversified crops. Oilseed, pulses, vegetables, fruits.. To a limited extent, we are encouraging farmers to shift from paddy to other crops,” he told a select group of journalists attending the Lighthouse FPO Conclave 2023, organised by agri enterprise Samunnati. “We are not discouraging them (from cultivating paddy),” he said. 

Procurement initiative

Until the farmers shift from paddy, it will be “imperative” for the State government to procure surplus paddy produced in Telangana. “If the Indian government is not procuring, automatically we have to procure. The Centre may shrug off its responsibility, but we can’t do so,” the minister said.

In his address at the conclave, Reddy said Telangana farmers are growing surplus paddy but were not getting the minimum support price (MSP). “How can farmers sell at low prices? That’s why we took up our own initiative to start procuring. But how long can we continue procuring? We need a solution,” he said. 

Currently, Telangana is faced with surplus paddy production. It has procured 6 million tonnes of paddy during the current rabi marketing season. This is because the Centre has said it will not be able to procure all parboiled rice bought by the Telangana government from farmers. 

The Centre points to its overflowing parboiled rice stocks for not wanting to buy from the State. 

Using for making ethanol

On the other hand, farmers face the problem of the rice getting broken if they opt to produce white (raw) rice. As part of its efforts to find a  resolution, the State has now decided to spend ₹2,000 crore to set up rice mills across the State. 

Asked if the State would consider exporting the excess parboiled rice it has in view of demand from Africa, Reddy said the Centre has to permit and the State cannot deal with foreign nations.

On if the surplus rice could be used for manufacturing ethanol, he said the manufacturing units will have to work out the economics. “If manufacturers come forward, we have no objection as long as they follow environmental and other laws,” the minister said. 

To another question, he said millets production will increase annually as people become more conscious. “Basically, the consumer should be more conscious than the producer,” he said.

Delay in kharif sowing

The minister said kharif sowing has been delayed by 20 days in Telangana due to delayed monsoon. However, the cultivation of various crops will not be affected. “We still have time for cotton and planting will be close to 60 lakh acres (24.28 lakh hectares),” Reddy said. 

The State will focus on oil palm cultivation bringing 20 lakh hectares in the next 3-4 years. “This year, we have added 83,000 hectares. In the current kharif season, the acreage will increase to nearly 3  lakh hectares,” he said. 

The State is providing incentives for oil palm cultivation as stipulated by the Centre to promote its cultivation. He denied that palm oil was not a healthy oil. 

Cotton seed issue

On complaints of tur (pigeon pea) shortage in Telangana and if the State is mulling any alternative, he said the Centre will have to import the pulses. “We are managing somehow. We are buying and doing it (managing supply),” he said. 

He said since the people in the State were not habituated to consuming masoor (lentil) or moong dal (green gram) and conscious about protein, the Telangana government is not looking at alternatives for tur dal.

He said technological development was being tapped by the State farmers to the optimum. 

Telangana has received ₹700 crore investments from the Agriculture Investment Summit held a couple of months ago. The investments had begun coming in and projects were also being launched, he said.

On the State’s farmers complaining that cotton seed prices were higher this year, he said its supply was abundant and there was no scarcity. “If farmers opt for only one brand, then there will be a shortage. But we will not allow the seeds to be priced higher,” he said.  

The writer was at the conclave on the invitation of Samunnati

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