Government to procure additional maize, jowar, sunflower
Telangana has expanded maize procurement targets and allocated an additional Rs 1,867.77 crore, raising total support to Rs 6,040.71 crore. The state will also procure jowar and sunflower beyond central limits to protect farmers from distress sales amid falling market prices and rising production.
HYDERABAD: With the Centre yet to respond to its repeated requests to procure maize, jowar and sunflower, the Telangana government has decided to increase its purchase target to protect farmers from distress sales and announced enhanced fund allocation for the purpose.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has approved this move along with an additional allocation of Rs 1,867.77 crore, taking the total allocation for maize procurement to Rs 6,040.71 crore.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao said that maize cultivation had increased significantly during the 2025–26 Rabi season, pushing total production to 42.87 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) in the state.
“To ensure farmers receive the minimum support price (MSP), the government had already extended a guarantee of Rs 4,172.94 crore and has now approved an additional bank guarantee for procurement of another 6.53 LMT of maize,” he said.
It may be mentioned here that Nageswara Rao recently met Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and urged the Centre to increase the crop procurement quota for the state. During their meeting, he highlighted the challenges being faced by farmers in the state, including poor market prices, financial distress and procurement issues.
‘Oppn enacting dramas’
In his press statement, Nageswara Rao said that 354 procurement centres had been established across the state and that 12.85 LMT of maize had already been procured from 2.33 lakh farmers. He pointed out that the previous BRS government spent only Rs 5,063 crore on maize procurement over 10 years, while the present government was spending nearly Rs 6,000 crore in a single season.
Taking a swipe at opposition leaders, Nageswara Rao said some politicians were merely engaging in “political drama” by visiting farmers, while the Congress government was actually procuring produce at remunerative prices and supporting farming families.
Rs 1,100 crore for jowar purchase
On hybrid jowar procurement, the minister said the state government was undertaking procurement operations involving expenditure of over Rs 1,100 crore.
Jowar cultivation currently covers 4.03 lakh acres in Telangana, with estimated production of 4.03 LMT. Officials have been directed to complete district-wise arrangements for procurement.
The minister said that the previous government spent only Rs 374 crore on jowar procurement over 10 years, while the present government procured jowar worth nearly Rs 800 crore during the last season.
Regarding sunflower procurement, Nageswara Rao said: “The Centre permits procurement of only up to 25% produced in the state. But the state government has decided to purchase beyond this limit in farmers’ interests. While the MSP for sunflower stands at `7,721 per quintal, the market price had fallen to around Rs 5,376, causing heavy losses to farmers.”
“Apart from proposals sent to the Centre, the state government also decided to procure an additional 10,175 MT of sunflower through the state pool,” he added.
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Source : The New Indian Express
