Telangana plans to set up Polytechnic College to encourage Organic Farming

S Niranjan Reddy, the state's agriculture minister, said the state government plans to establish a privileged polytechnic college to promote organic farming in the state.

In response to a question from S Subhash Reddy in the Legislative Council on Saturday, the Minister stated that the plan for the establishment of an organic farming polytechnic college must be reviewed by the Cabinet before a decision is made.

According to a poll led by Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, the average daily consumption of vegetables in the State was 10,000 metric tonnes per day. To meet the requirement in the state, an addition of 17,500 metric tonnes of vegetables had to be produced. Vegetables are being produced on 2.73 lakh acres, according to him.

Residents in Telangana consume 40 diverse kinds of vegetables, 24 of which are grown in the state and the rest are imported from other states, according to him.

According to him, the government has been encouraging farmers to start growing vegetables by holding field demonstrations, supplying quality vegetable seeds on subsidy from the Centre of Excellence, and providing subsidies on permanent pandals and mulching components to improve productivity and quality production.

As a result, the State government has set aside Rs.242 crore for the horticulture department, as well as Rs.50 crore for vegetable cultivation promotion, he said.