Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has said that the State government is ready to appoint one Horticulture Extension Officer in each mandal and assured that a huge market on 300 acres would be created at Kongarakalan to promote horticulture crops in a big way.
“Prepare proposals immediately on the number of employees needed for this. There should be special divisions in the Horticulture department headed by senior officials to bring about quality in the crops, study the changes in the cultivation patterns, to keep tabs on marketing,” he said at a review meeting.
He said Telangana was blessed with a wide variety of soil, good rainfall and professional skilled farmers and these advantages should be utilised to optimal level by bringing in revolutionary changes in the cultivation of vegetables, fruits, flowers and other horticulture crops.
KCR said there was an average rainfall of 900-1500 mm per year. All these were ideal for horticulture cultivation but despite all these advantages, the State was importing vegetables, fruits, flowers, spices, and oilseeds from other States.
“The Horticulture department should equip itself to make the State number one in cultivating the crops. Visit states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Haryana and countries like the Netherlands where horticulture crops are being cultivated very successfully,” he advised the officials, asking them to send officers to Indian Institute of Horticulture Research in Bangalore for training.
