Hyderabad: Telengana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar conducted a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan on Tuesday to assess the availability of fertilisers and seeds for the upcoming kharif season, as well as the execution of the Dalit Bandhu, as per media statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office.
During the discussion, the Chief Minister conveyed his displeasure with the Centre's regressive farm policies. He said that central policies were stifling the country's agriculture growth, which relied on farming as its primary source of income. The Chief Minister expressed regret that the Centre's haphazard policies were deterring farmers from continuing to farm and, as a result, lowering farm output in the country.
He directed staff to speed up the process of distributing Dalit Bandhu funds to identified recipients. The Chief Minister was briefed by CMO secretary Rahul Bojja that the scheme had already reached 25,000 beneficiaries and that on an average, 400 people had benefited from it.
For the last few days, people have been taking advantage of this perk on a daily basis. With the kharif season starting in June, the Chief Minister advised farmers to plant cotton, chilli, red gramme, watermelon, and other alternative crops instead of paddy.
He also stated that indiscriminate fertiliser use should be avoided. The Chief Minister requested that officials educate farmers on scientific fertiliser application methods. Excessive use of pesticides and fertilisers was affecting soil health, he said, and he expressed concern over the repetitive farming of single crops for years, which was harming soil health. He stated that adopting alternative crops to safeguard soil quality was the need of the hour, and he asked officials to create strategies in this area as well.
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