Telangana paddy yield to touch 1.5 crore tonnes

Telangana is all set to witness a record paddy production of over 1.5 crore tonnes during this Yasangi (Rabi) season. However, with uncertainty over the Centre procuring paddy in such huge quantities, this positive development could pose a challenge for the State government, which however is not giving up and is exploring various options to support farmers.

Paddy cultivation in Telangana hit a new high this Yasangi crop season with the crop sown in nearly 54 lakh acres, a staggering increase of 160 per cent when compared to the season’s normal cultivation area of 33.53 lakh acres. Paddy was cultivated in 64.54 lakh acres during Vaanakalam (Kharif) season of 2022-23 and 35.84 lakh acres during Yasangi season of 2021-22.

Though the cultivation area in this Yasangi is less than the Vaanakalam season, Agriculture department officials are expecting more paddy production than that of Vaanakalam (around 1.48 crore tonnes) due to the higher yield during Yasangi crop. While the Vaanakalam crop yields around 20 tonnes per acre, the Yasangi crop yields around 26 tonnes per acre.

With this, Telangana is likely to emerge the largest paddy producer in the country for Yasangi season this year. However, the high yield during Yasangi season poses a challenge for the State government as processing it into raw rice would yield less rice than boiled rice due to high broken grain percentage considering high temperature conditions in the State.

“It is both an opportunity as well as a challenge for us, considering the global demand for rice. Hence, we are planning to request the Centre to allow boiled rice during this season,” a top official in the Civil Supplies department told Telangana Today.

A team led by Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar will meet union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on March 1, to put forward proposals to the Centre in this regard.

The officials are hopeful that their request will be considered in the wake of global demand for boiled rice. However, considering the bitter experiences during last Yasangi season when the Centre refused to purchase boiled rice and Telangana suffered losses after milling paddy, the State government is exploring other options to ensure remunerative price to farmers.

This article has been republished from Telengana Today.