Faced with bleak prospects for paddy in the rabi season, the Telangana government has asked farmers to look at alternative crops such as oilseeds, pulses and horticulture crops to save themselves from a financial crisis.
With the Union government making it clear that it will not buy the rabi rice (parboiled rice) from Telangana in future, the State is left with no option but to shift to other crops. The list of alternative crops includes groundnut, chana, mustard, sesame, castor, green gram, sunflower, jowar and vegetables.
Though a bit late, the Agriculture Department has come out with a 40-page document giving detailed information about the alternatives available and the requirement of inputs like seeds for each acre of land. While explaining the FCI’s refusal to buy the rabi paddy in his foreword to the book, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said that it was important for farmers to go for rotation of crops to improve soil health.
Farmer unions, however, are cautious. While welcoming the efforts to reduce the paddy area in the rabi season, they said the government should ensure that farmers get the right kind of seed at the right time.
“The government should give an assurance that it will buy the produce at minimum support price (MSP). It should also offer insurance cover for all the crops that are being proposed as alternatives to paddy,” Ravi Kanneganti, a senior leader of Rythu Swarajya Vedika, told BusinessLine .
As the government wants to promote pulses and oilseeds as key alternatives, the farmers want it to help cooperative societies to set up processing units.
‘Create awareness’
The Telangana Rythu Sangham feels the State government should announce MSP for the crops not covered under the present MSP regime. “Instead of making vague recommendations, the department should come out with an advisory indicating which crops to grow where,” said T Sagar, General Secretary of the association.
“If you leave it to the farmers, they will go for crops that may not be suited for their fields,” said the association.
However, it is going to be a huge task for both the government and farmers to shift to other crops in the short window of time available.
The paddy area in the rabi season has gone up by about 1.5 times in the last five years. From about 22 lakh acres, the area went up to 53 lakh acres last year during the period.
The fact that the area went up by 15 lakh acres in the previous year shows how fast the paddy area expanded in the State. “Even if we reduce the area by 10-15 lakh acres this year, it will be a good beginning,” a government official said.