From a State that was dependant on rice from other States to meet its Public Distribution System (PDS) needs when it came into being in June 2014, the journey of Telangana to be one of the leading paddy producing States in the country, by not only meeting its own needs but those of other States, has been remarkable.
Despite the claims and counter claims of the ruling and opposition parties, trading of charges, the transformation is not an achievement out of any overnight magic, but one achieved through sustained efforts, support measures, development of infrastructure and above all, the blessings of nature.
Stating that the Congress Government in Telangana was able to achieve a record production of paddy this Kharif season, Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said, “Telangana achieved a record paddy cultivation and production of 66.78 lakh acres and 153.6 lakh tonnes, respectively, despite limited reliance on Kaleshwaram LIP and without drawing water from Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages”.
The views of the government aside, the statistics present a picture of steady progress achieved by the State in areas of cultivation extent and production of paddy. The extent of paddy cultivation has gone by over 230% between 2014-15 and 2023-24 and production by nearly 300% during the same period. Similarly, the net irrigated area under all sources of irrigation too has gone by about 125% between 2014-15 and 2022-23.
Improved irrigation facilities such as considerable improvement in the groundwater table, making inputs available timely, round-the-clock free power to agricultural pump sets, completion of some of the pending projects, partial completion and functionality of some of the new irrigation projects and linking of canals of projects to fill minor irrigation projects to ensure water for two crops a year have all contributed to increase in paddy cultivation and production.
Former Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T. Harish Rao stated that restoration of minor irrigation tanks, construction of a large number of check dams, completion of pending projects, filling up of irrigation tanks with water from projects and Kaleshwaram project have played a key role in making Telangana one of the top paddy-producing States.
“Despite not drawing water from 3 barrages of Kaleshwaram, the Congress Government has utilised the remaining network from Nandi Medaram pump house to draw Godavari water and used it from Mid Manair Dam, which too was completed by the BRS Government,” he added.
Published – December 15, 2024 08:23 pm IST
