Tummala’s Key Comments on Farmers’ Income!

Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said research and policies in the agricultural sector should focus on reducing farmers’ workload and increasing their income. Speaking in Hyderabad on Tuesday, after laying the foundation stone for a research complex being constructed at a cost of ₹10 crore near the Horticulture University college and inaugurating a seed treatment centre, he stressed the need to take advanced farming methods to small and marginal farmers. He also noted that excessive and indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides was affecting the acceptance of Indian agricultural produce in international markets.

The minister said Telangana faces a vegetable shortage of more than 70% and called for practical demonstrations at research centres so farmers can directly observe and learn modern cultivation methods. He also emphasized the need to significantly expand the area under horticultural crops and directed officials to remove encroachments and construct a boundary wall around the horticulture university. University Vice-Chancellor Danda Rajireddy said the research complex would coordinate studies on vegetables, flowers, grapes, medicinal and aromatic crops. Agriculture Secretary Surendra Mohan, Horticulture Director Yasmeen Basha and MLA Prakash Goud were among those present.