log on to thegoan.net FRIDAY JUNE 2, 2023 @thegoaneveryday Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday PRICE ` 8 18 pages The Goan (Playstore) PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 345 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INDIA’S GREEN GLORY T elangana has emerged as India’s green glory. Thanks to the pace at which it had regained its lost allure as a granary, the land is being looked upon as an enchanting paradise today. Horticulture gardens and plantations that stretch lushly on either side of the highways and rural roads are unusual of its past and they are the visible reality of its quick transformation. Consecutive failure of monsoons, recurring drought, mounting debts, and the unending story of farmers' suicides were once the order of the day. It is altogether a different story now. Haunted by money lenders, thousands of families of farmers and farm workers deserted their homes and farms and moved to distant towns and cities in search of fresh meadows. Devoid of livelihoods, people were forced by the wretched conditions they lived in and many preferred to sell agricultural lands for a song. There were instances where lands were traded off for milch animals as the scarcity conditions that persisted for long years rendered farming the most baneful activity. The lands had no takers those days and people pinned no hope on them. But today agricultural lands are the most sought-after. A piece of land has turned dearer than a nugget of gold. Costing no less than Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh an acre anywhere in the State, there is hardly any seller. Even in the remotest pockets, vast tracts of land are seen lying verdant even under the harsh sun. Close on the heels of a bumper harvest of Yasangi they had towards the end of April last, farmers are busy again with brisk activity in preparation for the ensuing Vanakalam season. The agrarian crisis was the most talked about in the history of the region. But now, there is a drastic decline in the number of suicides and those ending lives by suicides had not much to do with farming. The loan waiver extended by the State by writing off Rs 17,351.47 crores of crop loan taken by the 40,74,522 farmers 2014 to 2018 came in handy for restoring the dwindled fortunes of the peasant community. Outstanding crop loans of up to Rs.1 lakh per farmer family as on December 11, 2018 were made eligible for waiver. In the annual budget for 2023-24, an allocation of Rs 6,385 crores has been made to clear crop loans. The extortionist groups that nurtured the practice of funding in kind by collecting 50 to 100 kgs of produce from each farmer right in their khallas in the extremist-affected areas have no trace today. Peace that prevailed all over the State with stable administration and effective law and order resulted in unfaltering progress that helped in shaping up country’s most envied as well as the much craved for Telangana model. The progress achieved by Telangana in agriculture sector is a role model to the nation. It is the only State in the country that is according top priority for welfare of farmers and spending crores of rupees for development of the agriculture sector… TELANGANA HAS SO FAR SPENT RS 2,16,000 CRORE TOWARDS IMPLEMENTATION OF RYTHU BANDHU, RYTHU BIMA, 24 HOUR FREE POWER SUPPLY AND CONSTRUCTION OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS… THIS REFLECTS THE STATE GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TOWARDS WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT OF FARMERS... — K CHANDRASHEKHAR RAO, Chief Minister From a region which was hit by lack of irrigation facilities and farmers migrating to other States for livelihood, the birth of Telangana and the subsequent farmer-friendly policies transformed the State. OVERALL AGRICULTURE AREA & PRODUCTION Area in lakh acres Production in lakh tons INCREASE RYTHU BANDHU BENEFICIARIES YEAR-WISE Disbursement in crore in agriculture area 400 136 300 250 lakh acres 200 226 lakh acres 12000 No of beni ciaries 14,656 14,773 15000 350 10,486 10,532 59 14,744 63 in agriculture production 65 62 LAKH 9000 59 55 LAKH 6000 56 100 154 50 362 lakh acres lakh acres 3000 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 There were villages in the State with more than 100 bore wells sunk, but none yielding a trickle. State Agriculture Secretary M Raghunandan Rao was well-versed with such case studies taken up in person during his stint in the DRDA as a Project Director. Tribal clusters all along the Akeru, a tributary of Munneru river serve as a classic example of a splendid transformation. It was one of the driest rain shadow zones in the region where a blade of grass was seldom seen for a major part of the year. As a way out to quench the thirst of peo- 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 ple, not to speak of their farming needs, he succeeded in building a string of check dams on the stream to help replenish the groundwater levels. After the formation of Telangana, half-a-dozen irrigation tanks were rejuvenated in the area. Water supply to the tribal habitations is supported under Mission Bhagiratha, now a perennial source. Farmers tasted the heady brew of success growing paddy crops. Red sander plantations are galore. People with small land holdings are making big money growing vegetables. It is not an isolated 50 52 0 success story. Farmers are a spritely community today all over the State adding adequately to the State Gross Domestic Product (SDGDP). More and more of those who left the State during hard times are looking back to their roots. The big support extended in the form of non-repayable Rythu Bandhu has worked wonders. Money remitted directly into the bank accounts at the beginning of every crop season gave them a big relief. They now began to live up to their much-labelled identity of “feeding hands”. Since the formation of the 2018-19 9 HOURS in 2016 53 LAKH 6 HOURS LAKH 0 24 HOURS in 2018 LAKH INCREASE 150 POWER SUPPLY 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 State, the agriculture sector has been enjoying a focused approach from the government. Over Rs 4.50 lakh crores was funneled through the government's special initiatives providing farmers with investment support, infrastructure, extension activity, social security, and procurement of farm produce. Key initiatives including the Rythu Bandhu intended for giving crop investment support of Rs 10,000 per acre a year, 24x7 free power farm service, rejuvenation of over 46,000 irrigation tanks and ponds under Mission Kakatiya, construction of major 50 in 2014 irrigation projects, promotion of livestock and fisheries, sheep distribution scheme served as the growth drivers. On Rythu Bandu alone, the government had spent over Rs 65,191 crores disbursed in ten installments so far reaching out to 65,00,588 pattadars during the past five years. The positive impact of the initiative was acknowledged by umpteen number of organisations tasked with farm studies. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has listed it as one of the 20 schemes world over that proved to be most useful to the farmers. Families of 99,297 deceased farmers were paid Rs 4,964.85 cr (Rs 5 lakh each) from 2018 to 2023. The Government has paid Rs 5383.83 crores as premium. The State-sponsored initiatives have led to an increase in the share of agriculture and allied sectors such as fisheries, livestock, and social forestry to the Gross State Value added (GSVA ) at current prices to the State economy from 16.3% in 2014-15 to 18.2% in 2022-23. Since the formation of the State the Gross Cropped Area registered an increase of 83%. It has gone up from 1.31 crore acres in 2014 to 2.40 crore acres in 2023. Telangana Share in all India Gross Cropped Area Share Gross Cropped Area has gone up from 3.07 % to 5.06% during this period. Telangana has emerged as the largest producer of paddy after Punjab over the years. The agriculture production which was only 154 lakh metric tons touched 362 lakh metric tons by 2023. Major steps taken in the direction of farm mechanisation triggered a new page of rapid growth in the agriculture sector. The State had spent over Rs 1,000 crore on the provision of tractors, harvesters, and other farm machinery and implements. The government had facilitated crop-based custom hiring centres on subsidy minimising drudgery on manual labour associated with farm operations. The government had dealt with an iron hand, the supply of substandard seed with fake labelling by private distributors. Seed being a critical determinant in increasing production, it was accorded top priority. Promoting high-yielding varieties suitable for the State soils, the government had supplied 39.98 lakh quintals of seed spending over Rs 928.73 crore from 2014-15 to 2022-230. As part of the seed bowl initiative, the supply of quality seed ensured by the government has benefitting 46.57 lakh farmers so far. The value of the seed industry increased to about $1.3 billion from $0.9 billion and the number of seed farmers increased to about 0.35 million by 2022- 2023 from 0.24 million in 2014–15. The State has also strengthened seed organisations by implementing seed parks. The government also implemented the seed schemes of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the first time in India to promote seed exports and established modern seed testing labs with advanced facilities. Raising the awareness on seed certification, it hosted several national and international seed conferences, including the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) Congress (2019). Issued by Special Commissioner, Department of Information and Public Relations Govt. of Telangana