Cabinet panel wants more time to finalise plan to advance crop season

Hyderabad: The cabinet subcommittee on crop season advancement and productivity has received a set of recommendations, including a suggestion to choose paddy varieties which produce less broken rice even during high-temperature seasons.On Wednesday, the committee, led by agriculture minister Niranjan Reddy, met and decided to take more time to finalise its recommendations. According to a source, the rabi season, which extends up to mid-April, is facing climatic challenges due to unusual rainfall and high temperatures. “There is no temperature issue when the crop is being prepared, but during the harvest, the prevalence of high temperatures leads to more broken rice when coarse varieties are given for milling. Most paddy varieties, during the extremely hot conditions, give broken rice, but some varieties give less broken rice even during high temperatures,” they said During the rabi season, mostly coarse varieties of paddy and a few fine varieties are grown. According to sources, Telangana Sona (fine variety), KNM 1638, KNM 118, Ganga Kaveri, Tella Hamsa and Erra Mallelu are preferred among the 60-odd commonly sown paddy varieties in Telangana.There have been some concerns that if the rabi season is advanced, winter temperatures might be an issue, but that might not be a focus area. Experts also advise farmers to adopt different sowing methods that require less manpower. “There could be a shortage of manpower. To avoid it and financial stress, farmers can adopt new methods for better productivity,” they said. Another likely recommendation might be to shift from paddy cultivation and move towards cotton and other viable crops, including vegetables. “Farmers need to be made aware of these issues,” a source, who participated in the brainstorming session, said.
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