Farmers who grow paddy in Rabi season will not be provided any incentives and their produce too will not be purchased by the government, Collector Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district Pamela Satpathy said on Monday.
She told officials of Agriculture, Horticulture and allied departments, to amplify the message: “Don’t grow paddy, the government is not buying paddy.”
Meeting mandal and district officials from the various departments at the Raigiri Rythu Vedika, she said the Food Corporation of India was not ready to buy even a kilogram of paddy from Telangana. She instructed officials from all ranks in the departments to take steps for wide awareness and to draw up plans for effective crop diversion programme in the district.
B. Singa Reddy from the office of Commissioner, Agriculture, said the district could be divided into three clusters for focused intervention and campaigns about crop diversion, with participation of at least 200 farmers at each Rythu Vedika.
He said farmers could choose from red gram, black gram, maize, sesame and groundnut, among others, as alternative crops.
While agricultural extension officers in the field level will be the frontline staff to educate farmers, several other programmes will also be planned in the three-day intensive schedule starting Wednesday.
In Suryapet, District Collector T. Vinay Krishna Reddy, while advocating crop diversion, also instructed officials to keep a check on dealers who promote spurious seeds and to take stern action, including immediate cancellation of their licences.
Nalgonda Collector Prashant J. Patil said the State government was extending an incentive programme for cultivation of oil palm in about 700 acres in the district. Farmers who wish to avail the scheme should approach officials of the Horticulture department.
Mr. Patil also said, as an extension of the crop diversion campaigns, meetings will be conducted with private seed dealers to keep a variety of seeds in sufficient stock.