HYDERABAD: With new age farming gaining momentum in today’s agricultural scenario, a lot of small farmers are switching over to horticulture for two main reasons: one, horticulture crops help raise income and sustainability of livelihood.
Secondly, several urban and rural small farmers in the State, who gathered at a seminar on Saturday organised by the retired ICAR Employees Association and Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University in its campus, agreed that horticulture makes farming easier and apart from the initial investment, the rest all are benefits.
A third-generation farmer from Mahbubnagar, Tirupathi Reddy, grows papaya, sapota, pomegranate, guava and drumstick in his four-acre land. He said that this was his first time employing drip-farming to grow horticulture crops. “I started out with drumstick plants as they help bring down the content of nitrogen in the atmosphere. Later, I started different varieties of crops” he adds. He currently has about 3,655 crops of mixed cropping variety.
This type of farming helps farmers not only have quality produce but ensures back-up in case of droughts.