Farmers stand to benefit

Warangal: In a bid to help the farmers in the region, the State Government is all set to establish a Horticultural Research Centre at Kannaraopeta village under Nallabelli mandal in Warangal district. The government issued a GO 31 in this regard a couple of days ago. Earlier, there was a plan to establish a Chilli Research Station; however, the government in the broader interests of the farmers decided to set up the Horticultural Research Centre, giving importance to chillies and seed spices research. The research centre will operate under the Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticulture University.

The 54 acres (Survey No 58) at Kannaraopet village which the authorities identified for establishing the Chilli Research Centre will be used for the Horticultural Research Centre.

According to Narsampet MLA Peddi Sudarshan Reddy, the Horticultural Research Centre is going to benefit the local and neighbouring district farmers immensely. “In addition to the research on finding new varieties of chilli, the research centre will also focus on other seed spices. The presence of scientists is of immense help to the farmers who will get a chance to learn best practices in farming,” Reddy said.

“The demand for setting up a chilli research station remained unfulfilled for a long time. Thanks to the government for issuing a GO to establish a horticultural research centre. The onus is on the government to make adequate budgetary allocation for the research centre besides hiring the scientists. The research centre will play a major role in enhancing crop yields and promoting crop diversification,” Peddarapu Ramesh, AIKF State general secretary, said.