NIZAMABAD : Known as the Seed Bowl of Telangana, Ankapur has been declared as a Model Village in terms of its agricultural development by the State government and also earned recognition from national and international agricultural research bodies such as the ICAR, ICRISAT and the International Rice Research Institute.
Now, it is the Central government that has its eyes set on Ankapur’s water management, so it can be turned into a Model Village for water conservation as well. Unlike other State villages, Ankapur farmers have always focussed on growing commercial crops like turmeric and maize, which greatly increased their profit margins.
So much so that the village has attracted the attention of national banks whose branches now hold nearly `40 crore worth of deposits by the residents. Meanwhile, it is home to over 20 seed processing units, whose produce is distributed across the country. However, recently the intensive agricultural practices were taking a toll on its water resources.
“The village was using more water than what was available for cultivation. Keeping this in mind we have speeded up the water conservation programme,” said project director from District Rural Development Agency, R Rathod on Monday.
‘Centre to focus on water issue’
Nizamabad: The Centre is keen on addressing the water issues of the State, said Nikunja Kishore Sunda Rai, joint secretary and CEO of Jala Shakti Yojana on Sunday. He was on a three-day tour of Nizamabad district as part of the Jala Sakthi Abhiyan programme