Golden days
in offing for farmers in TS
Vanam
Jwala Narasimha Rao
The Hans India (21-06-2017)
The latest
announcement of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to give Rs. 8000 per acre
at the rate of Rs. 4000 for kharif and Rabi seasons to the farmer will go a
long way in developing agriculture sector into a challenging profit-making
sector. It is for the first time anywhere in the world a government is giving
investment to the farmer and organizing farmer federations to monitor the
sector.
The time
has now loomed wherein the decades old exploitation of farmer by middle men is
put to an end and confidence infused in them.
If a situation comes where the farmer is placed in such a difficult
position of not able to sell his agricultural product, the farmers’ federation
steps in and buy it by offering the support price. Government gives a guarantee
to farmers’ federation and seed money of Rs. 500 crores. According to Chief
Minister the farmers’ federation at all levels-village, Mandal, district and
state-will be made so powerful that they will have adequate money to buy
produce from farmer. To workout modalities CM plans to have an elaborate
meeting with farmers’ representatives. The department of agriculture is gearing
up to depute officers to every district to study in one village the methodology
of implementing the plan of action by way of discussions with farmers.
Against
this background, Government of Telangana has come out with an Agriculture
Action Plan articulating all the activities and schemes that are being
undertaken in the state in the interest of farming community.
The
average size of landholding per farmer in the state, according to census is
1.12 hectares. The total number of operational holdings are 55.54 lakhs
covering an area of 61.97 lakh hectares. Based on climatic parameters like
rainfall, soils and cropping pattern the state is divided in to four
agro-climatic zones which have been further sub divided into 98 different
farming situations like black, red, shallow, lateritic etc soils. It is
estimated that about 57 lakh hectares is under cultivation. Cereals like rice,
wheat, jowar; pulses like red gram, green gram, black gram; groundnut, soya
been, castor, cotton, chillies, sugarcane, onion etc are the crops that are grown
in the state.
Seed is
the most important agriculture input and hence seed production and distribution
is a continuous process in the state. To produce quality seed and develop state
as a seed bowl of India, long term seed production plan is drawn in the state
involving university and department of agriculture as well as research
institutions. Quality seed of about ten lakh quintals produced in the state is
distributed to the farmers through state and central schemes like national food
security mission and normal state plan. The subsidy seed is supplied through
various seed supplying government nodal agencies. There are 10 state seed
production farms in the state.
Seed
village program and certified seed production through seed villages is an
important activity that is being taken up to ensure supply of quality seed to
farmer. The supply of seed to the farmers would be in time at their places at
affordable prices besides ensuring quick multiplication of new seed varieties
in a shorter time in that Mandal or district based on the crop situation. As
part of seed regulation activity, the state has analytical services, seed
testing labs, quality assurance program, licensing of seed marketers, special
squads for surprise checks etc.
Fertilizer
is an essential commodity and is a critical input in crop production.
Department of agriculture takes necessary steps to supply quality fertilizers
to the farmers. Plant protection which needs greater attention to prevent yield
loss due to incidence of pests and diseases is addressed carefully. This is
being done through release of new pest and disease resistant varieties,
development of new pesticide molecules, adopting integrated pesticide
management practices and timely communication of plant protection measures to
the farmers.
Farm mechanization
which will help in increasing productivity and reduce cost of cultivation is
given importance. It will also enable the farmer to complete farming operations
in time. Agriculture department has contemplated to distribute various farm
machinery and implements on subsidy basis.
Three crop
insurance schemes are being implemented in the state since 2016 kharif season
namely, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana, Weather based Crop Insurance Scheme
and Unified Package Insurance Scheme. All farmers irrespective of category, who
are borrowing crop loans from any bank are compulsorily covered under crop
insurance. It is optional for others.
To meet
the growing needs of the population for food grains, it is imperative to
enhance productivity and this area is addressed through training to farmers for
improving their knowledge and skills to increase production with low cost
technology. The basic objective of this type of agriculture extension is to
transfer latest agricultural technologies to farmers. Women too play critical
role in all farm related activities from land preparation to marketing and
contribute a higher proportion of labour. To strengthen women participation
Farm Women Empowerment program is being implemented.
Rainfed
Area Development (RAD) program with an objective of increasing agricultural
productivity of rainfed areas in a sustainable manner is being implemented. It
aims at promoting integrated farming system with emphasis on multi-cropping,
rotational cropping, inter-cropping, mixed cropping practices with allied
activities like horticulture, livestock, fishery etc. for sustaining
livelihood.
Soil
Health Management, a major technological challenge, is yet another activity
that is being take up in the state to increase soil nutrients and thus enhance
crop productivity for ensuring food security and sustaining rural development.
The objective of this program is to facilitate and promote integrated nutrient
management through judicious use of chemical fertilizers, in conjunction with
organic manures and bio-fertilizers for improving soil health and its
productivity. The department of agriculture takes-up soil testing in all the
farmers’ fields with a view to facilitate in balanced fertilizer application
which includes generation of soil health cards.
The government
intends to divide the state into various crop colonies and an assessment is
being made to estimate the requirement of various agricultural produce,
vegetables, oil products, fruits etc both for domestic and for export purposes.
The assessment covers not only the requirement of human beings but also that of
livestock. Government is also toying with the idea, to restrict some lands for growing
only vegetables to meet the growing demand for them and the inability to meet.
A village could be made self-sufficient in vegetables if only at least two
farmers for every village exclusively grow vegetables and supply to the entire
village. In other words, every village could have an exclusive vegetable growing
crop colony, so goes the thinking in the government.
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