Farmers encouraged to raise horticulture crops

Kadapa: Farmers are switching to cultivation of horticulture crops from traditional farming due to crop failure and mounting debts. Even, district officials are encouraging farmers to take up horticulture crops. According official sources, around 92,000 hectares is under horticulture cultivation.

Fruits, vegetables, flowers and spices like banana, papaya, mango, sapota, lemon, tomato, onion, brinjal chilis, chrysanthemum, jasmine, turmeric and coriander are largely grown in the district. Farmers are raising mangoes in 30,000 hectares with average yield of 2 lakh tonnes while banana occupies second place with an average yield of 8.32 lakh tonnes in 12,800 hectares.

“I am earning good returns in banana cultivation with less investment compared to traditional crop like paddy,” said V Madhava Reddy of Pulivendula mandal. Farmer N Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, who was earlier irrigating paddy, has shifted to mango cultivation. Now, he is earning good profits compared to paddy cultivation. “I never expected such better returns from mango farming.

Now, I want to irrigate all kinds of horticulture varieties,” he stated. To encourage farmers in cultivation of horticulture crops, the state government has launched a new website called ‘hortnet.com.’

Farmers are provided with comprehensive information about latest methods being used in horticulture at mandal agriculture office once they registered their names in the website, said Assistant Director of Horticulture M Venkateswara Reddy.

Speaking to The Hans India, District Collector C Hari Kiran stated that the district administration is promoting horticulture farming in a big way to bailout farmers from incurring losses with traditional crops. Making efforts to increase the horticulture acreage to another 1 lakh hectares in all mandals for transforming the district into horticulture hub, he added.