Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao urged the Centre to extend stronger Telangana farmers support through higher crop procurement, storage assistance and better price support mechanisms.
The minister met Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at ICAR-IIOR in Rajendranagar on Thursday and explained issues faced by farmers in Telangana.
Tummala Nageswara Rao said the Telangana government was giving top priority to farmer welfare, crop diversification, water conservation and horticulture development.
He stated that the state government was taking measures to ensure remunerative prices for farmers’ produce. However, he said Telangana required additional support from the Centre in several areas.
Telangana farmers support sought for maize and jowar procurement
The minister said maize and jowar cultivation covered nearly 20.29 lakh acres during the Yasangi season in Telangana.
He stated that production was estimated at around 47.23 lakh metric tonnes.
According to Tummala Nageswara Rao, the market price of maize remained around ₹1,800 per quintal, while the Centre fixed the minimum support price at ₹2,400 per quintal.
As a result, farmers were facing severe financial difficulties.
The minister said the Telangana government established 336 procurement centres and procured around 11.45 lakh metric tonnes of maize.
He urged the Centre to include maize and jowar under the Price Support Scheme and permit procurement of 14.90 lakh metric tonnes of maize and 2.01 lakh metric tonnes of jowar through central nodal agencies.
He also requested support for storage, transportation and logistics facilities.
Telangana farmers support requested for sunflower growers
Tummala Nageswara Rao said sunflower cultivation also increased significantly during the current season.
However, he pointed out that the Centre permitted procurement of only 3,690 metric tonnes, which was insufficient to meet farmers’ needs.
He said the minimum support price for sunflower stood at ₹7,721 per quintal. Despite that, farmers received much lower prices in the open market.
The minister said unseasonal rains and climate changes damaged crops stored in market yards and open spaces.
Therefore, he requested the Centre to immediately raise the sunflower procurement limit from 3,690 metric tonnes to 15,262 metric tonnes.
He warned that small and marginal farmers would suffer heavy losses without urgent intervention.
Telangana farmers support linked to oil palm and irrigation expansion
The minister said Telangana was promoting micro-irrigation, drip irrigation, fruit orchards, vegetable cultivation and oil palm farming.
He stated that Telangana currently ranked first in the country in oil palm implementation.
According to him, 79,448 farmers cultivated oil palm across 1.16 lakh hectares in the state.
The government planned to expand cultivation by another 34,000 hectares during 2026-27, he added.
Tummala Nageswara Rao also raised concerns over the growing use of herbicide-tolerant cotton seeds across the country.
He urged the Centre to formulate a clear national policy while keeping farmers’ interests in mind.
The minister said farmers were shifting towards HT cotton because of labour shortages, rising cultivation costs and high weed management expenses.
He reiterated that the Telangana government remained committed to strengthening the agriculture sector and protecting farmer welfare.