Stopping input support given to landholding farmers failing to cultivate the crop suggested by the State government and denying purchase of their produce at minimum support price under the price support scheme were among several suggestions made by agricultural experts to make agriculture profitable in the State by preventing cultivation of some crops.
They also suggested that a system of cultivating crops suggested by the government and controlled farming practices to reduce losses in agriculture be evolved in the State not only to make agriculture remunerative but also to maximise the benefit of government interventions for the development of the farm sector.
A meeting chaired by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao attended by officials of agriculture and allied departments, agriculture university, agri-business and agriculture experts here on Sunday further advised the farming community that it would be beneficial both to them (farmers) and the government to cultivate crops suggested by agricultural scientists, experts and officials since such produce would also have the buyback facility.
Minister for Agriculture S. Niranjan Reddy, Rythu Bandhu Samithi chairman P. Rajeshwar Reddy, Secretary (Agriculture) B. Janardhan Reddy, Vice-Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University V. Praveen Rao and functionaries of the Civil Supplies and Seed Development Corporations and experts discussed the changes required to be brought in the farming sector in the State to make it lucrative in the coming years.
Farmer education
Agriculture and agri-business experts opined at the meeting that the farmers would get good returns on their produce only if they cultivated the crops which had demand in the market or the crops based on the consumption patterns of people. However, educating the farmers to shift to such a system would have to be taken up by the government so that demand and supply system was maintained properly. Apart from government guidance, awareness and self-regulation would have to be developed among farmers. In addition, the government should act tough in enforcing the system to make such a controlled farming practices successful, the experts said.
They felt that Rythu Bandhu benefit and support price to the produce should be given to only those farmers who cultivated crops suggested by the government.
Although the State government was purchasing all food crops with a humane approach due to the COVID-19 lockdown, such a massive-scale procurement would not be possible every year since the government was not a commercial entity, the meeting felt.
