Hyderabad: After the constant appeal of the Telangana government, farmers are switching to alternate crops. The peasants are now looking for an alternative crop, in place of paddy.
As of December 8, paddy has been cultivated on 7,012 acres during the Yasangi season in comparison with the regular 28,729 acres. It is to be noted that the state government is creating awareness among farmers, with regards to alternative farming. The awareness campaign was taken up since the Centre refused to procure paddy from the state recently.
Risking the uncertainty, farmers began sowing 8.34 lakh acres of land as opposed to the normal 46.5 lakh acres during the Yasangi season. It is to be noted that during the same time last year over 5.19 lakh acres of land were sown. Farm operations were initiated on 68.16 lakh acres towards the end of the season.
To tackle the losses faced due to the paddy procurement issue, the cultivation of crops such as maize, jowar along with pulses including Bengal gram and black gram is underway. According to a report by Telangana Today, an official from the agriculture department said, “As against 38,280 acres cultivated as of December 8 last year, maize crop is being cultivated in about 94,080 acres this year.”
He further stated, “For the corresponding date, cultivation of jowar has increased from 18,205 acres last year to 25,479 acres this year.”It is to be noted that the cultivation of pulses is also catching up, as the government presses for alternative crops. The cultivation of crops such as Bengal gram is now being cultivated on 2.7 lakh acres, as compared to 2.51 lakh acres last year.
The agricultural land used for the cultivation of oilseeds has now gone ut to 3.11 lakh acres as compared to 1.5 lakh acres last year.