Telangana urges Center to include maize and jowar in PSS
Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao (centre) meets Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in New Delhi on Thursday as Telangana Agriculture Minister K. Surendra Mohan looks on. | Photo credit: Arrangement
HYDERABAD
Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao called on Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in New Delhi on Thursday and raised several demands on behalf of the farming community in Telangana, including inclusion of maize and jowar crops in the price support scheme, increase in quota for procurement of sunflower by the Centre, a clear policy on herbicide tolerant cotton and others.
During the meeting with the Union Minister and Telangana Secretary (Agriculture) K. Surendra Mohan, Mr. Nageswara Rao explained to the former about the adverse conditions faced by the farming community in Telangana, financial problems due to lack of remunerative prices for produce in the open market, the need to increase the scope of horticulture crops, problems in procuring future crops, agricultural policies.
He said that the Telangana government was giving top priority to farmers’ welfare, crop diversification, water conservation and promotion of horticulture crops. Though the state government procured some crops which the center did not get under the PSS, the help of the center was needed, he pointed out.
On the marketing issue of maize and jowar this Rabi season, Mr. Nageswara Rao said that the two crops were grown in an area of more than 20.3 million acres with production estimated at more than 47.25 million tonnes after favorable weather conditions and good yield. The flooding of the market pushed the market prices down as traders bought them at a much lower price compared to the minimum support price.
He explained that traders were buying maize at ₹1,800 per quintal against the MSP set by the Center at ₹2,400 per quintal. As part of helping farmers, the state government has already opened 336 shopping centers and has purchased 11.45 lakh tonnes of maize so far. However, the free market price of products did not stabilize around MSP as products flooded the market. He asked the Union minister to procure at least 14.9 million tonnes of maize and 2.01 million tonnes of jowar through central nodal agencies.
On sunflower procurement, Mr. Nageswara Rao said that the procurement quota of 3,690 tonnes fixed by the Center was not sufficient as farmers were getting a much lower price than the MSP quintal of ₹ 7,721 in the open market. He urged the Union minister to increase the procurement quota to at least 15,262 tonnes.
He also sought a clear policy on herbicide tolerant cotton varieties flooding the market in the absence of any policy and its adverse impact on biodiversity. He sought support to extend micro-irrigation to another 34,000 hectares by 2026-27.
Published – 21 May 2026 20:30 IST