Though the agricultural season in Telangana started off on a dull note due to delay in monsoon rains, farmers expect a record paddy area in the kharif season. 

With almost all the districts, barring those under the Nagarjunsagar ayacut area, receiving more-than-normal area rainfall over the last three weeks, the State government expects a record area of 26 lakh hectares for paddy this season, 2-3 lakh hectares more than the last year’s area.

Due to good demand for rice and not-so-encouraging prices for cotton, farmers are expected to bet on paddy this time, restricting the cotton area to 18-20 lakh ha.

According to the latest reports, the State completed paddy sowings in 16 lakh hectares against 12 lakh hectares around the same time last year.

In his Independence Day speech, Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao hoped that the State could breach the 26-lakh hectare mark in paddy sowings this kharif.

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He recently said the paddy production in the State would go up to 4 crore tonnes from the present level of 3 crore tonnes after the completion of Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project. 

The remaining kharif acreage of about 26 lakh hectares would primarily be divided between cotton (about 20 lakh ha), maize, millets, redgram and chillis.

According to the 3rd advance estimates of food grains for 2022-23, rice output is estimated to be 175.27 lakh tonnes in Telangana, while cotton production stood at 58.54 lakh bales for 2022-23 against 48.08 lakh bales in 2021-22.

Area expansion

“The State has expanded its cultivable land during the last nine years. The Gross Sown Area (GSA) has increased from 131 lakh acres during 2014-15 to an impressive 198 lakh acres by 2021-22, marking a substantial increase of 51%. The expansion of cultivated land has had a direct and significant impact on agricultural production, which increased by 52% from 2.32 crore tonnes in 2014-15 to 3.26 crore in 2021-22.,” K Ravinder Rao, Chairman of NAFSCOB (National Federation of State Co-operative Banks Ltd), and Telangana State Cooperative Apex Bank (TSCAB) “Paddy area went up by 180% from 35 lakh acres to 98 lakh acres between 2014-15 and 2021-22, and cotton area expanded by 12% from 42 lakh acres to 47 lakh acres,” he said.

Price outlook

The market intelligence unit of the Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University predicted that the paddy price per quintal would be around ₹1,980–2,060 for common variety and ₹2,060 – 2,460 (Grade-A) variety.

Crop losses

The heavy rains and floods that helped revive the season in recent weeks also caused extensive damage to crops, forcing farmers in several parts of the State to sow their crops again.

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