Telangana CM blames past govts for farm sector woes

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has blamed the current woes of farmers in the State on the former governments of united Andhra Pradesh. The State was denied its due share of water and irrigation projects in the last six decades, he said.

Responding to a discussion on farmer suicides in the Assembly on Wednesday, he said the State would complete irrigation projects to absorb its share of 1,280 TMC feet of water from the Krishna and the Godavari rivers in the next three years.

“We are going to spend ₹25,000 crore on various irrigation projects in the next three years. We will appoint an agricultural officer for every 5,000 acres,” he said.

Plea to seed firms Urging farmers not to resort to the extreme step, Rao said the government had asked the seed companies to adopt at least one mandal and help the farmers in that mandal to develop quality seeds.

“We are going to discuss the issue on October 5. There are about 300 seed firms and 450 mandals in the State. They have agreed to the proposal,” he said.

Cutting across party lines, the members criticised the government for its failure to stop suicides by farmers. About 1,300 farmers committed suicide since June last year, with a failed monsoon leaving them in a debt crisis.