To go for paddy cultivation or not this rabi season? This is the question tormenting lakhs of farmers in Telangana as they gear up for the sowing. They are in a fix whether to go for the cereal crop or to look for an alternative crop after the State government told them they are not going to procure the foodgrain.

After indirectly telling the farmers to shun paddy in the rabi season a couple of times, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao asked them to shun paddy as the Centre has refused to buy parboiled rice from the State. Turning the tables against the BJP, he said the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will hold protest meetings across the State demanding the Centreto purchase rabi paddy.

The State procured over 92 lakh tonnes of paddy during rabi last year as farmers grew the crop on 21.50 hectares ( against 15.60 lakh hectares the previous year). Rao’s advice comes after the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution informed the Telangana Government that it should not ask for purchase of parboiled rice in future.

“Following persistent requests from the State government, we approve additional purchase of 20 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice in addition to the previously agreed upon 24.75 lakh tonnes (for 2020-21 produce),” it said in a letter to the State government.

Also read: Mustard accounts for 57% of area sown under rabi crops

It set a condition that the State government should give an undertaking that it is not going to deliver parboiled rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in future.

In order to avert a similar situation this year, the Telangana government asked the farmers to shun paddy to save themselves from a financial crisis. The farmers are, however, furious. They alleged that the State government has been encouraging the farmers to grow paddy for the last few years and boasted of the State becoming a “rice bowl” of the country.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and Left parties have strongly opposed the State government’s advisory. They said farmers have a right to grow paddy and it is the responsibility of the government to purchase the produce.

The farmers’ unions admit that there is an immediate need to reduce the paddy area in the rabi season. “But you can’t force it on them all of a sudden. You need to create an awareness on why they should reduce the paddy area,” Kanneganti Ravi, a leader of Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV) told BusinessLine .

The area under paddy and the output has seen a phenomenal growth in the last seven years. From a production level of three million tonnes in 2015-16,paddy production in the State went up to 30 million tonnes last year as the area under cultivation went up to 40.45 lakh hectares in 2020-21 from 14.6 lakh hectares in 2015-16.

Alternatives

Professor Jayashankar Telangana State University (PJTSAU) Vice-Chancellor, V Praveen Rao, has suggested that the State could look at alternatives like pulses, oilseeds, which are climate-resilient and carbon-neutral crops.

Kanneganti Ravi asked the government to quickly come out with a plan to promote alternative crops in areas with borewells. Besides supplying seeds free of cost, the government should assure the farmers that it would procure the produce with minimum support price.

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