Telangana farmers buy seeds this Akshaya Tritiya

ADILABAD: Farmers in Adilbad purchased cotton seeds on Sunday as it was considered an auspicious day (Akshaya Tritiya). The Central government had accorded permission for shops selling seeds and fertilisers to open in rural areas.

Shop owners were told to maintain social distancing. A Rajesh, a farmer who purchased seeds in Adilabad town, said that due to the lockdown many farmers had not stepped out of their villages and used the time to complete work on their fields.

Most of the farmers in the district are dependent on rainfall. Many have already cleaned their farmlands and are waiting for the monsoon to start cultivation.

Agricultural officials are expecting that farmers will increase the area under cultivation for soybean by more than 10 per cent this year in erstwhile Adilabad district due to the abundant rainfall this month.

Last year, cultivation was taken up on 80,000 hectares. This time, the expected area under cultivation is 1.25 lakh hectares. Most of the farmers plan to take up soybean cultivation, followed by red gram.