To encourage farmers to take up greenhouse cultivation in the district, particularly in mandals that are located close to the State capital like Bhongir, Bommalaramaram, Bibinagar, Choutuppal, Aler and others, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will soon be visiting a greenhouse farm located near Bhongir.
As some legislators raised questions during the budget session as to whether poly-house cultivation is beneficial to farmers, the Chief Minister wanted to take some public representatives, including MLAs, ZPTCs and MPTCs, to a farmhouse, to explain the benefits of the practice.
Speaking to The Hindu , Assistant Director, Horticulture, G. Yugandhar, said that currently 12 acres in the district were under greenhouse cultivation. Of this, greenhouses have come up on eight acres in Bommalaramam village where local farmers raise flowers.
But a farmer in Bhongir is known to grow tomatoes and cucumber and the Chief Minister has decided to visit the farm sometime later.
The yield is 200 tonnes of high quality tomatoes if cultivated under poly-house while in normal course, the output is about 50 tonnes, the horticulture officer said. To boost horticulture, particularly vegetables under greenhouse cultivation, the officials said that the Chief Minister was eyeing Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Medak and Mahabubnagar districts, which are located close to the State capital.
Mr. Yugandhar said the Ranga Reddy horticulture department had received overwhelming response from farmers to greenhouse cultivation since the Telangana government had allocated Rs. 250 crore towards it in this year’s budget. As many as 400 farmers have approached the office so far in Ranga Reddy district.
Forty farmers from Nalgonda also approached his office, particularly people from Bhongir, Bommalaramaram, Choutuppal Suryapet and Tungaturthy. Mr. Yugandhar hoped that greenhouse cultivation would get a boost with the State government and farmers showing an interest in it.
Meanwhile, a lone greenhouse farmer from Nakrekal mandal, Barisetti Balaraju, who cultivates capsicum and cucumber, said he was finding it difficult to market produce. “The government should offer buy back services for the produce, which will encourage more farmers to opt for greenhouse cultivation,” he observed.
