Govt lays ambitious roadmap to boost farmers’ income by 2047

Hyderabad: Telangana State Agriculture and Cooperation Department Secretary K Surendra Mohan announced that the government is implementing comprehensive programmes to raise the per capita income of farmers to Rs 12,53,733 per annum by 2047. He emphasised the need to expand cultivation of fruits, vegetables, spices, millets and pulses to achieve this ambitious target.

Speaking after his visit to Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University in Mulugu on Thursday, Surendra Mohan highlighted several initiatives. He said vegetable collection centres would be established to procure produce directly from farmers, alongside a significant expansion of marketing infrastructure. Plans are underway to increase fruit cultivation from 4.5 lakh acres to 12 lakh acres, vegetable cultivation up to 10 lakh acres and spice crop cultivation to 6 lakh acres.

To boost exports, the government is preparing to set up vapour heat treatment and irradiation centres near the international airport, enabling large-scale export of mangoes and other fruits. With rising demand, cultivation of millets will be expanded by 10 lakh acres and pulses by seven lakh acres. Surendra Mohan also revealed that palm oil cultivation would be scaled up from 2.7 lakh acres to 12 lakh acres by 2025, while sericulture targets include a five-fold increase in mulberry production and an eight-fold rise in tussar silk output.

Supporting these initiatives, the government plans to extend micro-irrigation to 40 lakh acres and enhance farm power capacity to 9 kilowatts per hectare. Infrastructure development will include cold chain facilities of 50 lakh tonnes and warehousing capacity of 50 lakh metric tonnes.

During his visit, Surendra Mohan inspected the Central Instrumentation Facility, Smart Classrooms, RFID-based library, university nursery and the newly established Akshaya Dining Hall. He interacted with PG and PhD students, urging them to focus on farmer-centric research.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Danda Raji Reddy presented the university’s perspective plan, stressing that establishing local markets every 50 kilometres would encourage vegetable cultivation. He outlined strategies to promote grafted vegetable plants and trellis-based farming, noting that every rupee invested in horticulture yields a fourfold profit.

The programme was attended by TS Oil Fed OSD Dr Kiran Kumar, consultant Dr K Veeranjaneyulu, technical advisor Dr Sunandini, Vegetable Research Station head Dr D Anita Kumari, Professor Pidiga Saidiah, Joint Director Sarojini, District Horticulture Officer Suvarna, JDA Dr Sridhar, scientists and students.