Chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy has called upon agricultural scientists to evolve profitable cropping systems and farming technologies for the benefit of farmers in drought-prone and flood-affected areas. | |
| Addressing the 38th convocation of the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) here on Monday, the chief minister said the coastal districts in the state were regularly subjected to cyclones and floods. |
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| Hence, there was an urgent need to minimise human, crop and ecological losses through proper monitoring and development of appropriate prediction models. |
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| "The state has been experiencing continuous droughts since 1983. The university is providing contingency plans for different situations including droughts, floods and cyclones. It should also include vegetables, flower crops etc in the contingency plans," he said, adding that drought-prone areas should be saturated with dryland horticulture, bio-fuel crops, and fodder crops coupled with animal husbandry and other livelihood activities. |
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| While appreciating the role being played by the ANGRAU university in seed chain by producing the required breeder and foundation seed of various crops besides planting material of horticultural crops, the chief minister said that there was a need to raise the replacement rate to 25 per cent in self-pollinated crops like rice and wheat, 33 per cent in cross-pollinated crops and 100 per cent in hybrid crops. |
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| "Demand for seeds of commercial crops, pulses, oilseeds, fodder and vegetable crops is increasing. Popularisation of new varieties and strengthening of seed programme is highly essential. This could best be achieved through good liaison between the scientists and officials of the department of agriculture," he said. |
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