Minister urges ryots to rethink on paddy farming, go for alternative crops
Telangana Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageshwara Rao has urged farmers to shift from water-intensive paddy cultivation to alternative crops due to severe rainfall deficits caused by El Nino. The government is preparing to support this transition by providing seeds, micro-irrigation equipment, and increased agricultural credit facilities.
Why it matters
The shift is critical for regional food security and water management, as poor monsoon conditions threaten to significantly reduce Kharif crop yields and deplete groundwater reserves.
Minister for Agriculture Tummala Nageshwara Rao has asked the farming community to rethink on cultivating paddy this season and consider raising other less water intensive crops as it is already forecast that the impact, scanty rainfall, of El Nino conditions, would continue in August too.
He suggested using micro-irrigation implements to raise pulses, millets, coarse grains and horticultural crops to make optimum use of the available groundwater resource, which would also be scarce in case the rainfall deficit increases further. He instructed the authorities to make ready seeds needed for alternative crops and the drip equipment along with credit facilities (bank loans).
At a meeting held here on Thursday to discuss the impact of El Nino conditions, the Minister said 23 out of 33 districts were facing rainfall deficit scenario as on July 23 and requested the banks to increase agricultural loans, including crop loans and term loans.
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