Farm body top babu lauds Telangana State move on crop colonies

Hyderabad: Nagpur-based National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSSLUP) of ICAR, Director Dr S K Singh said Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's initiative to establish crop colonies in the State will help in the development of agriculture and welfare of the farmers.

Participating at a high-level meeting on crop colonies at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) presided over by University Vice Chancellor Dr V Praveen Kumar, on Thursday, he said, “the idea of crop colonies needs to be replicated across the country.” 
Praveen Rao said that the Chief Minister is strongly supporting the establishment of crop colonies for the benefit of the farming community and to make agriculture profitable.

In the high-level meeting it was decided to prepare Mandal-wise maps on the basis of existing weather conditions, land pattern, availability of water resources and other resources available. Besides, crop-wise maps will also be prepared on the basis of crop pattern, production and productivity.

That apart, the meeting decided to come up with roadmaps indicating the feasibility of various food processing industries after the preparation of the maps of crop colonies.

Praveen Rao said that help will be sought from the National Institute of Food Technologies Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) (NIFTEM), Vice Chancellor Dr Ch Vasudevappa and other scientists. He said a two-day workshop will be organised on February 5 and 6 to hold further discussions on the joint report prepared by the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning and PJTSAU on crop colonies.

The final report on crop colonies will be submitted to the State government after taking stock of the suggestions from the two-day workshop, he added. The high-level meeting was attended by State Agriculture Additional Director Vijayakumar, Director of Extension Dr Raji Reddy and other senior officials from the agriculture department.