Setting a new record, the paddy production in Telangana this summer season is all set to mark a new record. According to agricultural officials, the paddy production in Telangana is expected to be over 1.5 crore tonnes and even more.
In the past, the paddy production in the summer season was around 4 to 5 lakh tonnes. Now it has become easy to produce more than the expected quantity, thanks to the visionary chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao whose tenacity to turn agriculture into a viable vocation yielded results with much ease by the farmers.
In 2020-2021, the paddy production touched one crore tonnes and now it is all set to cross 1.5 crore tonnes – all in these four to five years of time. In proportion, the government procurement has also gone up considerably.
The Telangana government procured 14 lakh tonnes of paddy in 2014-2015 and in 2020-2021, a record of 93 lakh tonnes of paddy was procured by the government. This is seven times higher in seven years.
The official records reveal that the highest paddy production was 1.32 crore tonnes in 2020-2021.
In 2015-2016 summer season, paddy was cultivated on 7.35 lakh acres and production was 12.75 lakh tonnes. But in 2019-2020, there was a phenomenal change with 89 lakh tonnes of production from the cultivation of paddy on 39.31 lakh acres.
Last season, with the increased restrictions and non-cooperation by the Central government that forced the states to discourage farmers from cultivating paddy, production had come down drastically.
This time, paddy is being cultivated on 54 lakh acres and another two to three lakh acres are likely to be sown with paddy.
All this was made possible with the BRS government ensuring free uninterrupted quality power, increased groundwater level, the revival of defunct canals which were now brimming with water flow, direct cash payment for input subsidy under the Rythu Bandhu scheme among other interventions by the state government.
Many farmers who abandoned their lands for want of power and water supply and migrated to towns and cities for livelihood came back and took up the cultivation again with the friendly government at the helm.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao