Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy has asserted that the State had emerged as “seed bowl” of the country contributing a major chunk of national seed requirement every year.
As against the total seed requirement of around 35 lakh tonne annually, Telangana was contributing over 60%, about 22 lakh to 24 lakh tonne, of seed to meet the national requirements. Over 400 national and multinational companies established their bases here setting up processing plants as well as warehouses to store the seed produced here.
Replying to a question during the Question Hour in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the Minister said more than 3 lakh farmers were engaged in seed production in over 7 lakh acres in different parts of the State. The work force comprised of 50,000 skilled workers, 2 lakh unskilled and another 50,000 who were working in the allied sectors.
The State had 6 million square feet of warehouses and another 20 million sq.ft of cold storages in addition to Seed Development Corporation and Seed Certification Agency. The State agriculture university was working in active coordination with the national and international research institutions in the cultivation of quality seed that was being exported to other States within the country as well as abroad.
Over 7 lakh tonne of quality paddy seeds worth ₹ 3,200 crore and 8,000 tonne groundnut seed worth ₹ 200 crore were among the chief products that were being exported from the State. The Sona rice produced in the State had earned reputation for its low sugar content and the cotton seed produced in the erstwhile united Mahbubnagar district contributed to one third of the country’s production.
Moreover, all the seed varieties produced in Telangana received OECD certification and the State would soon have a state-of-the-art seed laboratory that was being set up by the ISTA (International Seed Testing Association) at a cost of ₹ 7 crore. Major portion of works on the laboratory were completed and it would be inaugurated soon, he said.