NIZAMABAD : Officers and staff from revenue, electricity and agriculture departments will fan out to villages to enlighten the farming community on the need of sowing irrigated dry crops instead of paddy in the coming rabi from November 7.

They will explain the ill-effects of sowing of paddy, benefits got from ID crops, need of judicious use of water and remunerative prices and subsidies provided for ID crops by the Government, says Mohammad Ali Shabbir, the Minister for Information and Public Relations.

Addressing a press conference at Kamareddy on Friday, he said: "This year we received bountiful of rain after several years. The groundwater table, which was depleted drastically, began rising. Hence, we should not use water indiscriminately creating problems for ourselves in future."

Water consumption

Citing statistics regarding water consumption for various crops, he said for paddy cultivation 90 lakh litres was used per acre cultivation, while it was between 14 and 20 lakhs for the ID crops like Bengalgram, sunflower, maize and jowar. Cultivation of paddy crop in rabi would empty the reservoirs, he added.

The officials would try to convince the farmers to take up ID crops by explaining these points and Government support for them, he said and suggested to farmers to install capacitors to bring down the power consumption and enable the electricity department to supply power to new farmers.

Mr. Shabbir Ali, who is also holding the Power portfolio in the Cabinet, sought to dispel doubts expressed over the free power supply and reiterated that the Government will not renege on its promise under any circumstances.

He, however, hastens to add that electricity bill would be sent to the farmers for quantity of power consumed for the paddy cultivation in the rabi.

ID crops would be totally exempted from the power charge, he explained.

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