AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is the most predominant sector of the District economy, as 20 percent of the population is engaged in Agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood. The gross cropped area of the district is 261360 Ha with 267663 no. of farm holdings.The Government policy and objectives have been to ensure stability in agricultural production and to increase the agricultural production in a sustainable manner to meet the food requirement of growing population and also to meet the raw material needs of agro based industries, thereby providing employment opportunities to the rural population.Warangal Urban District has all along been one of the Districts in the state with a creditable performance in agricultural production with the farmers relatively more responsive and receptive to changing technologies and market forces.

The Agriculture Department has taken up the challenge to achieve higher growth rate in agriculture by implementing several development schemes and also propagation of relevant technologies to step up the production through effective extension services while implementing various schemes such as Soil health management under National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture -NMSA, Integrated Farming Systems under RAD, Comprehensive water management activities including Water management through Micro Irrigation Systems under PMKSY, encouraging Organic farming under PKVY, increasing production and productivity under NFSM etc. Further, trainings and demonstrations at the field level are conducted from time to time with an objective of reducing the Cost of Cultivation by the adoption of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques. Besides, crop diversification to fetch better return and value addition to agricultural produce are also given priority to improve the economic status of the farming community of the district.

Infra-Structure Facilities:

Bio-Control Laboratory

Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas fluorescence are the Bio-Control agents produced and distributed to the farmers. The objective of production and distribution of Bio-Control agents is to reduce the farmers dependence on chemical pesticides there by reducing the cost of cultivation and increasing the profit besides protecting the environment from chemical pollution.

Soil Testing Laboratory-Hanumakonda :

Soil Samples are taken from the farmers field (Grid System of Sampling) and sent to Soil Testing Laboratory for analysis. Based on the analytical report of the Soil Testing Laboratory, Soil health cards are generated and distributed to the farmers. The objective is to educate the farmers to go for soil health card based chemical fertilizer application as the imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers so far being practiced by the farmers has considerably deteriorated the soil health status coupled with the reduction in the quality of the produce besides increasing the cost of cultivation without any additional benefits.

Farmer Training Centre- Hanumakonda:

The objective of the Farmer training centre is to provide village level training to all the farmers for effective transfer of advanced technologies.

Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) :

The objective is to strengthen Research – Extension – Farmer linkages to ensure Technology Transfer through Demonstrations, Training and Exposure visit.

Schemes:

Different schemes are being implemented in our district to disseminate the advanced technologies for increasing productivity and production in all agricultural crops.

Centrally Sponsored Schemes:

National Mission on Oilseeds and Oilpalm (NMOOP) – Oilseeds, Oilpalm and Tree Borne Oilseed Crops.
National Food Security Mission (NFSM)- Pulses, Cereals and Cotton Crops
National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)- Includes the following.
Integrated Farming System –RAD
Soil health card Scheme
Soil health management through the distribution of Micro nutrients based on soil health card.
Sub Mission on Seeds and Planting Materials (SMSP)- Paddy, Pulses and Oilseeds – Certified Seed Distribution
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)-To Encourage Organic Farming
Soil health management through the distribution of Micro nutrients based on soil health card.
Sub Mission on Seeds and Planting Materials (SMSP)- Paddy, Pulses and Oilseeds – Certified Seed Distribution.
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)-To Encourage Organic Farming
Pradhan Manthri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)- To expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water, enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies“(More crop per drop)”.
Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM)- to promote agricultural mechanisation among small and marginal farmers and in the areas where the level of mechanisation is very low.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

The Scheme aims at supporting sustainable production in agriculture sector by way of providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices ensuring flow of credit to the agriculture sector; which will contribute to food security, crop diversification and enhancing growth and competitiveness of agriculture sector besides protecting farmers from production risks.

State Schemes:

Farm Mechanization component of Normal State Plan (FM-NSP): It is proposed to supply various farm implements/ machinery i.e. Animal Drawn Implements, Tractor Drawn Implements, High Cost Machinery (Upto 1 lakh & 1 to 5 lakh), Mini Tractors, Post Harvest Equipment, Plant Protection Equipment, Inter-cultivation Equipment, HDPE Tarpaulins and establishment of Custom Hiring Centres for Paddy Land Preparation, Cotton, Maize, Paddy Harvesting package during 2017-18.

District Agriculture officer,
Hanumakonda.