HYDERABAD: Function halls in Telangana will now store fertilisers.
As these facilities are lying vacant due to ban on mass gatherings till May 7, the Telangana government, which had earlier decided to store paddy in government schools, has now directed district collectors to make arrangements for storage of 21.5 lakh metric tonne of fertilisers at function halls in all districts except GHMC area. There are over 500 major function halls in district and mandal headquarters in the state.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has said the agriculture department estimated that sowing operations are likely to be taken up in over 1.35 crore acres during the ensuing kharif season, which commences from mid-June. The CM said 21.5 lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers will be required for a crop area of 1.35 crore acre.
The farmers could start purchasing fertilisers from May 5 onwards. He appealed to the farmers not to rush to fertilizer stores once the monsoon hits the state in June. It is better to take it from May 5 onwards. The farmers should come at staggered timings so that social distancing could be followed. Officials said all arrangements would be made to supply fertilisers through shops.
The government has been facing a huge challenge of storing agriculture produce as the state has produced bumper yield of all crop varieties in the rabi.“Due to availability of water through irrigation projects, round-the-clock power supply, good rains and pro-farmer schemes such as Rythu Bandhu, farmers took up cultivation on large scale in rabi. As a result, there has been a bumper crop of paddy, maize, Bengal gram, tur dal, sunflower and jowar,” an official said.
In view of lack of marketing facilities to farmers to sell their produce due to the lockdown, the state government has decided to procure even maize, sunflower and jowar in addition to paddy and Bengal gram. For all these, it needs storage space,” another official said.
As these facilities are lying vacant due to ban on mass gatherings till May 7, the Telangana government, which had earlier decided to store paddy in government schools, has now directed district collectors to make arrangements for storage of 21.5 lakh metric tonne of fertilisers at function halls in all districts except GHMC area. There are over 500 major function halls in district and mandal headquarters in the state.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has said the agriculture department estimated that sowing operations are likely to be taken up in over 1.35 crore acres during the ensuing kharif season, which commences from mid-June. The CM said 21.5 lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers will be required for a crop area of 1.35 crore acre.
The farmers could start purchasing fertilisers from May 5 onwards. He appealed to the farmers not to rush to fertilizer stores once the monsoon hits the state in June. It is better to take it from May 5 onwards. The farmers should come at staggered timings so that social distancing could be followed. Officials said all arrangements would be made to supply fertilisers through shops.
The government has been facing a huge challenge of storing agriculture produce as the state has produced bumper yield of all crop varieties in the rabi.“Due to availability of water through irrigation projects, round-the-clock power supply, good rains and pro-farmer schemes such as Rythu Bandhu, farmers took up cultivation on large scale in rabi. As a result, there has been a bumper crop of paddy, maize, Bengal gram, tur dal, sunflower and jowar,” an official said.
In view of lack of marketing facilities to farmers to sell their produce due to the lockdown, the state government has decided to procure even maize, sunflower and jowar in addition to paddy and Bengal gram. For all these, it needs storage space,” another official said.
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