Date: 12/11/2021 Shift: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Q. No: 198

With an impressive growth in yields, Telangana now claims to be transforming into the rice bowl of India. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has procured 52 lakh tonnes of paddy from Telangana alone, which is more than half of the national target of 91 lakh tonnes. The state’s harvests have nearly doubled in a year. Paddy production is up 93%, maize 95%, and cotton 74%, according to the Telangana Planning Department.
The state is also making its mark as a producer of paddy seed. “About 85% of our village’s paddy is of a fine variety that farmers in MP, Haryana, Bengal, and Bihar use as seed,” said a farmer in Anksapur Village in Nizamabad district. The seed crop sells at a premium over the state’s minimum support price for paddy.