To ensure smooth procurement, the government has established 8,381 procurement centres and secured 13.71 crore gunny bags, and an additional 2.79 crore bags are being arranged.
Published May 02, 2025 | 10:11 AM ⚊ Updated May 02, 2025 | 10:11 AM
A paddy field. (iStock)
Synopsis: Telangana government anticipates a bumper paddy harvest of 70 lakh metric tonnes and has allocated ₹15,000 crore for procurement from farmers. District collectors have been directed to remain vigilant to address any challenges farmers face at the procurement centres.
Telangana is poised for another record-breaking paddy production in the Rabi 2025 season. The state government anticipates a bumper harvest of 70 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) and has allocated ₹15,000 crore for procurement from farmers.
Harvesting has recently begun and is gaining momentum. Paddy was cultivated across 58.73 lakh acres this Rabi season, compared to 64.5 lakh acres in Rabi 2024.
“We are set to surpass our Rabi production record, just as we did for the Kharif season last year,” said Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy in a statement on Wednesday, 30 April.
In the 2024-25 agricultural year, Telangana produced 93.44 LMT of paddy during Kharif 2024, cultivated over 60.39 lakh acres. The state expects to achieve 70 LMT in Rabi 2025.
To ensure smooth procurement, the government has established 8,381 procurement centres and secured 13.71 crore gunny bags, and an additional 2.79 crore bags are being arranged. Farmers growing fine rice varieties will receive a ₹500 per quintal bonus above the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The Union government has set the MSP at ₹2,300 per quintal for common variety paddy and ₹2,320 per quintal for Grade-A paddy for the 2025-26 marketing season.
District collectors have been directed to remain vigilant over the next 20 days to address any challenges farmers face at procurement centres and ensure a seamless process.
As of now, 29 LMT of Rabi paddy has reached procurement centres, with 19.6 LMT procured from 2.55 lakh farmers. The state has disbursed ₹2,289 crore to farmers, with ₹4,545 crore still payable. Besides, ₹444.2 crore will soon be paid as a bonus to farmers for their fine rice varieties.
According to sources, several factors contributed to this record production. Despite the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) being non-functional due to the 2023 collapse of piers at Medigadda Barrage and structural issues at Annaram and Sundilla barrages, its prior contributions were significant.
Sources said that KLIP’s reservoirs, including Sripada Yellampalli Barrage, Mallannasagar, Ranganayaka Sagar, and Annapurna, stored sufficient water from earlier seasons, providing 30–36 TMCft (Thousand Million Cubic Feet) of water, required for Rabi irrigation.
The project’s 1,800 km canal network facilitated water distribution to fields, supporting the 18.25 lakh-acre command area across 13 districts.
The other factors included a favourable monsoon in 2024 which recharged groundwater table and filled reservoirs, encouraging farmers to cultivate more paddy.
Low pest incidence during Rabi, compared to Kharif, led to a high yield of approximately 34 quintals per acre. The ₹500 per quintal bonus for fine varieties also seemed to have incentivised farmers, the source said.
The KLIP’s earlier operations led to drought-prone areas like Karimnagar and Warangal increasing paddy cultivation by 80 percent between 2018–19 and 2022–23.
This trend continued in Rabi 2025 also, supported by alternative water sources like the Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP), where water was pumped from Yellampalli to meet irrigation needs.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
