Telangana may do away with crop regulation

After experimenting with regulated cropping system for a year (two seasons), the Telangana government seems to have decided to stop the practice.

A review meeting held here on Sunday felt that the State Government need not interfere with the farmers’ choice of what crop to grow. “It is better if the State government stops advising the farmers on what crops they should cultivate and where. The Government should forthwith stop issuing guidelines on what crops should they grow. There is no need for the Regulatory Farming policy,” the meeting felt. The farmers should meet regularly at the ‘Rythu Vedikas’ to discuss on the demand for various crops and take a call on what crops should be grown accordingly, an official, who attended the meeting, said.

The Government’s decision to enforce a regulated cropping system had come in for sharp criticism from the farmers’ unions. They said any regulation would lead to monocropping and could reduce the area of some import minor crops.

The opposition from farmers and huge losses that it suffered in purchase and sale of commodities must have forced the Government to do away with the regulated cropping.

Losses

In the kharif season alone, the Government suffered a loss of ₹7,500 crore, including ₹3,995 crore from paddy alone. “The Government purchased the commodities at minimum support prices but had to sell it at lower prices in the open market,” an official said.

“The Government had opened purchasing centres in villages to help the farmers sell their produce locally. We did it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It may not be possible for the Government to do it every year,” he said.

Stating that the new Farm Laws allow the farmers to sell their crop anywhere in the country, there is no need for the State to set up purchase centres in villages. “But sale and purchase at the Agriculture markets should be done properly,” he said.