KCR packages Dasara gift for farmers

Hyderabad: The farmers in the state are in for a Dasara gift. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to announce a new 'Marketing Model' which would benefit farmers in selling their produce from this kharif season.

This, sources say, could be a better option to what the Central Act on agricultural reforms has to offer to the farmers. This, it is said, could be yet another step towards one-stop shop for the problems being faced by the farmers in marketing their produce and would also help in doing away with the middlemen.

The Chief Minister would also be launching Dharani portal by Dasara which would be a solution for all revenue related issues in the state and do away with the corruption in the department. Along with this, if the new market model is also rolled out, it would help the farming community, feels the Chief Minister.

Top official sources said that KCR is holding series of meetings with Agriculture university officials, farm experts and the managements of the agro-industrial units to devise an agro-business model to make farming a lucrative profession by providing a platform for marketing of the foodgrains, vegetables, aqua and other perishable farm products.

"The CM analysed the recently enacted new farm sector acts which provides free access to the entire market in the country by the farmers and traders. KCR identified many hurdles in the one-nation one-market concept envisaged by the Centre for the benefit of the farmers," a senior official said.

The TS government is preparing a new marketing model under which the traders and agro-industries will reach the farmers at their doorsteps and buy the produce more than the MSP so that farmers get profits.

The state government is likely to create a facilitating centre to help both farmers and agro-industries to meet their demands. For instance, the Government's Marketing department will help the sweet lime farmers in Nalgonda to buy their produce by the juice manufacturing companies located in different parts of the country at the best price and help the farmers to get the MSP to their produce.

The bumper paddy production registered every year in the state will also help to supply required paddy to other states where the food products with rice are manufactured, officials said that the government is compiling data of all agro-based and food processing industries in the country and the requirement of raw farm produces and the availability of the same in Telangana.

The increase in fish production in the recent years also gave a big scope to invite fish food processing industries to set up their production units in the state.

"KCR has many plans to benefit the farmers by introducing new marketing models to promote farm produce from Telangana at national and international level, encourage the investors to set up processing units in Telangana and buy all the produce by the state government and store them on cold storage to sell them at remunerative prices," officials said that KCR will take a final decision to promote Telangana as a big facilitator to sell farm produce outside the states before the Dasara festival.