The paddy acreage in Telangana has seen record growth as the farmers sowed the crop in 52.55 lakh acres this kharif as against the season-normal of 27 lakh acres last year.

The State, under its new regulated cropping system, wanted the farmers to grow paddy in 42 lakh acres. But the target has far exceeded with farmers tapping into the new irrigation potential that the State created in the last two-three years.

Thanks to the new irrigation capacities, the overall kharif sown area has gone up by 30 per cent to 1.34 crore acres from 1.03 crore acres last year.

Anticipating a good harvest, the State has set a paddy procurement target of 70 lakh tonnes from kharif as against the 47.50 lakh tonnes that it procured last year.

All the districts in the State received copious rains this season. The State received a rainfall of 1,078 mm so far as against the normal rainfall of 720 mm.

Other crops

The State, a leading cotton producer, covered an area of 60.22 lakh acres with the fibre crop as against the season normal of 44.50 lakh acres, registering a growth of 35 per cent. Under the regulated cropping system, the State wanted the farmers to grow cotton in 60-62 lakh acres.

Red gram, too, witnessed a sharp growth in area at 10.76 lakh acres as against the season average of 7.61 lakh acres, up 41 per cent.

The maize area, however, saw a huge decline after the government asked farmers not to grow the crop. As against the normal 11.76 lakh acres, the farmers went for only 2.25 lakh acres.

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