Hyderabad: In the wake of excessive use of pesticides in cultivation of brinjal and okra (lady’s finger) in the State, the Telangana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Commission instructed the officials to take steps to contain the situation.
Telangana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Commission Chairman M Kodanda Reddy has instructed the officials to focus on horticultural crops after the Horticulture officials submitted a report to Agriculture Commission about excessive usage of pesticides by farmers particularly in cultivating brinjal and okra. He held a meeting with officials on horticultural crops at the Farmers’ Commission office here on Monday.
The Commission also directed the officials to regularly hold meetings and awareness programmes with farmers cultivating horticultural crops across the State. “Vegetables are being cultivated by using pesticides to produce more in a shorter period of time, which is causing farmers and consumers to fall ill.
Instead, farmers should be encouraged to cultivate organic farming,” Kodanda Reddy said.
They have been instructed to encourage cluster cultivation, ensuring that government subsidies reach more farmers cultivating in the cluster system to discourage excessive usage of pesticides. The Commission also decided to soon visit vegetable gardens in the districts surrounding Hyderabad and hold a face-to-face program with farmers. The chairman suggested that the Mandal Agriculture Officers should focus on curbing the indiscriminate use of pesticides and State and district level officials should monitor the situation.
