Extension Of Vegetable Cultivation Dropped Drastically: Thummala
Telangana’s vegetable cultivation area has fallen from 3 lakh to around 1 lakh acres, prompting plans to expand cultivation across Kharif and Rabi seasons.
The area under vegetable cultivation has dropped from 3 lakh to around 1 lakh acres, agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said. Consequently, about 6 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of various vegetables had to be imported from other states during the 2025-26 period.
Nageswara Rao said during Question Hour that during the ongoing monsoon season, vegetable cultivation was undertaken on 72,583 acres, exceeding the usual cultivation area of 51,000 acres. Towards increasing the area under vegetable cultivation in the state, the minister said the government was drafting plans to cultivate vegetables on one lakh acres during the current Kharif season and another one lakh acres during the subsequent Rabi season.
Nageswara Rao said the government's goal was to boost production to a level where vegetables grown in Telangana can be supplied to other states, eliminating the need to procure vegetables from other states. He said that instructions had been issued to officials to make this possible.
He blamed unscientific practices like usage of large doses of fertilisers and the Centre’s failure to optimise their usage, as the reason for the fall in vegetable cultivation.
He stated that the state government was requesting the Centre to revise the subsidy policy to balance urea consumption and prioritise fertilisers that helped conserve soil health. He said that he had discussed this matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union agriculture minister on several occasions.
The minister stressed the need to formulate agricultural policies that encouraged farmers to cultivate crops with high yields and strong market demand. He noted that limiting subsidies to specific crops and methods could disrupt the balance in the agricultural sector.
On the issue of the wholesale market which is being operated from Batasingaram, Nageswara Rao clarified that the proposal to construct a new facility at Koheda would materialise within next two to three years, as it had the approval of the Chief Minister. The plan was to establish a market spanning 170 acres at the location which was near the ORR. The minister said a special meeting would be arranged with the director of marketing to address issues concerning markets such as Pahadishareef and Gudimalkapur.
The minister stated that oil palm cultivation, which was previously limited in scope, has now been expanded to all districts across Telangana. He noted that Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University had risen to the 19th rank from 37th in the Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF) for agricultural universities due to measures taken by the Congress government.
