The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Chief Minister asks ICRISAT to help farmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 04, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Chief Minister asks ICRISAT to help farmers

By Our Staff Reporter

The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, walks around an ICRISAT farm during his visit on Tuesday. The ICRISAT Director-General, William D. Dar, the Ministers -- J. Geeta Reddy, N. Raghuveera Reddy, Mohammed Fareeduddin and M. Mareppa - are al so seen.

HYDERABAD, AUG. 3. The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, spent over four hours on the ICRISAT campus at Patancheru, near here, on Tuesday interacting with scientists to find out as to "what they can give to farmers of the State."

Accompanied by four Ministers -- N. Raghuveera Reddy, Agriculture, M. Mareppa, Rain Shadow Area Development, J. Geeta Reddy, Sugar, and Mohd. Fareeduddin, Fisheries -- and a host of senior officials, Dr. Reddy walked around the ICRISAT farms in incessant rain asking detailed questions regarding the applicability of various crop strains in the conditions of dryland agriculture in the State.

He also visited the watershed demonstrator on the campus and held a closed door meeting with the ICRISAT Director-General, William D. Dar, and senior scientists.

Pointed question

Dr. Reddy reportedly cut short a presentation on the research being done in ICRISAT and asked a pointed question: "What can ICRISAT give small farmers of the State in terms of alternative crop and technologies?"

Later, speaking to presspersons, Dr. Reddy said he had a "very fruitful" discussion with scientists and called for heightened cooperation between the leading agricultural research institutions of the State for more effective transfer of agricultural technology.

"It is essential to encourage farmers to shift from water-intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane to dryland crops like sorghum, groundnut, millets and others which are part of the ICRISAT research mandate," he said. Many of these crops had declined in area due to the shift towards paddy and sugarcane as these promised higher cash returns. But these crops were "a gamble" in dryland regions and put a heavy burden on farmers in their search for water. He added that the Government too needed to give proper support prices for dryland crops before farmers could effect such a shift.

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