Pocharam vows to turn Telangana into 'Seed Bowl of World'

Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said that the State Government was committed to turn Telangana into the 'Seed Bowl of the World'. 

Addressing the 8th National Seed Conference at Hitex here on Thursday, Pocharam said that the State Government took several initiatives to encourage production of seeds. He said Telangana was the best state for production of seeds and therefore, Hyderabad has become headquarters for several leading seed companies. He said that the State Government would permit other leading global companies to manufacture seeds in Telangana State.

Pocharam said that the State Government has been taking several measures for the welfare of farmers in Telangana State. He said short-term, mid-term and long-term programmes have been initiated to prevent suicides by farmers. He said that the government waived off crop loans of nearly Rs. 17,000 crore.

The minister said that there were nine crore farmers in the country with each of them having a debt of Rs. 47,000. However, the Telangana Government has waived off loans up to Rs. 1 lakh of each farmer. He said that the farmers should follow the advise of experts in cultivation to protect themselves from suffering losses. He appealed to the farmers not to resort to extreme steps like suicide.