TSSDC: Farmers switching to high-yield crop varieties

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Seeds Development Corporation (TSSDC) has said that the importance given to the agriculture sector under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has led to expansion of agriculture extent and registered higher yields.

In a release on Sunday, the TSSDC said that according to 2021-22 estimates agriculture contributes 18.3 per cent to the State GDP, on which, 48.4 per cent of the population depend. Besides, it is supporting the State industrial and service sectors.

As part of the comprehensive and stable agriculture development in the State, the TSSDC has been producing seeds of different crops cultivable in suitable lands and distributing them to farmers.

In line with the objectives of the CM, TSSDC has developed 60 varieties of seeds of 18 crore. They include paddy, chilli, cotton, ground nut, green gram and millets. It said seeds were developed to withstand the State's climatic conditions and pests. The TSSDC has developed field demonstration sites to create awareness among farmers to cultivate new varieties.

During 2021-22 it produced 160, 441 quintals of new varieties of seeds cultivated in 33,619 acres. In turn, it has helped farmers divert to profit-yielding crops across the State.

The TSSDC also exports seeds to agriculture-dependent States like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, it said. The corporation claimed that the State was emerging as a role model for farmers of the entire country by encouraging different crops with high yields.