Agri Dept Geared Up, Ready For El Nino Monsoon: Tummala
State to promote crop diversification and provide weather advisories to farmers as part of measures to tackle possible monsoon uncertainties.
HYDERABAD: The agriculture department is geared up to guide and assist farmers during the Kharif crop season against the backdrop of uncertainties over rainfall in the monsoon season due to the El Nino impact, agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said.
The minister’s assurance of the agriculture department taking up advance measures to minimise the impact of possible monsoon vagaries this year came at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on monsoon preparedness on Sunday. Nageswara Rao said the agriculture department had introduced a regular weather advisory and update service via WhatsApp through which farmers receive localized weather forecasts specific to their mandals.
“This initiative is helping farmers in picking the right time for planting seeds, water management, among other things. Around 28 lakh farmers in 18 districts have been receiving these weather updates,” Nageswara Rao told the meeting, according to a news release from his office.
The department began assessing possible impact of El Nino from April itself and after extensive discussions the officials had with agriculture scientists, weather experts and others, prepared an action plan to guide farmers depending on different rainfall scenarios, the minister said.
One of the main activities of this Kharif is to encourage farmers to opt for non-paddy crops and diversify their activities by planting other less water intensive crops including pulses, jowar, millets, castor, maize, and oilseeds. “So far, the department has placed 87.49 lakh quintals of seeds for these alternative crops across the state. Meanwhile, the fertilizer booking app has been revamped and is now in use and is being found to be very useful by farmers to book and purchase fertilizers, Nageswara Rao told the meeting.