Telangana to ask Centre to lift entire crop of pulses at MSP

HYDERABAD: The Agriculture department has decided to to the Centre, requesting it to procure the entire produce of pulses from the State at Minimum Support Price, instead of procuring only 25 per cent of the produce through Markfed as being done every year.

During a review meeting held with higher officials at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) at Rajendranagar on Tuesday, Agriculture Minister G Niranjan Reddy asked officials to see that paddy varieties that didn’t result in splitting and wastage during milling be encouraged in rabi. Officials were also directed to create awareness among farmers to ensure that harvesting was preponed by 15-30 days, so that they could reap the harvest before March, as delaying it further could risk getting damaged due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms.

Niranjan Reddy also directed officials to ensure that field experimentation of cotton cultivation for the coming rabi season is done in the agricultural university and other demonstration fields of the agricultural department.

It was decided that farmers will be encouraged to go for black gram, chickpea, sunflower, groundnut and oilseeds in rabi. Keeping in mind the requirement of onions and vegetables, officials were asked to prepare plans to encourage their cultivation during rabi.

The Minister asked officials to make use of Rythu Vedikas and conduct meetings with farmers so that they could be informed about the right quantity of seeds to be sown, fertilisers and other inputs. This can bring down the input costs, the Minister opined.In view of the kharif harvest approaching, officials were asked to ensure enough tarpaulin sheets were made available to prevent paddy from getting soaked in the rain during the procurement process.