More Telangana vegetables on plate: El Nino changes crop selection, farmers get harvest returns

Agriculture Department Secretary K. Surendra Mohan interacting with farmers. | Photo credit: BY ARRANGEMENT

The prevailing impact of El Nino is changing the crop choices of farmers in Telangana – which has been prominent for paddy cultivation while raising environmental concerns. The extent of land used for growing vegetables, fruits, spices, flowers and other horticultural crops increased by 1.28 lakh acres; from 2.25 lakh acres in Kharif 2025-26 to 3.54 lakh acres in this monsoon sowing season. This was recorded when the state received a 17% rainfall deficit in the southwest monsoon.

The area under cultivation of various horticultural crops could further increase in this rabi (yasangi). The agenda to encourage farmers to choose these or less water intensive crops over paddy has always been the agenda of the horticulture department.

In view of depleting ground water table, lower levels in reservoirs across the state and increasing demand for electricity, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy recently appealed to farmers to postpone one crop. Crops less demanding on water were also planted. Officials may also include folk artists to spread the message about the impact of El Nino and contingency plans.

Transition

Agriculture Department Secretary K. Surendra Mohan said El Nino contingency plans were prepared in April and awareness about alternative crops was spread during the Praja Palana Pragatiki Pranalika programme. Seeds for growing pulses, vegetables and others were provided at subsidized prices. The officers concerned have been asked to train the farmers during the transition as not all of them may have grown fruits, spices, flowers or others before.

Name S.noCropArea in Kharif 2025-26 (acres)Area in Kharif 2026-27 (acres)Increase in area (acres)1Fruits7.8207.917972Vegetables48.49180.37931.8883Red chili94,9981,70,83875,8404Turmeric42,06850,7288,6605Palm oil28,41232,1093,6976Flowers2,4487,3034,8557Other spice1,6334,7623,1292,25,8703,54,0361,28,166

Farmers’ concerns

Farmers constantly point to problems with the supply chain for selling vegetables, spices, fruits and more, which is not as well defined as the rice paddy supply chain. In addition, they want more cold storage and the means to export production to other states.

Connecting farmers and wholesalers

A senior official said he has spoken to organizations that run community kitchens — which provide food to students of government schools and colleges — about supplying vegetables and other horticultural produce from local farmers. Since the organizations get produce from aggregators, officials have contacted them and tied them up with local farmers to ensure that the produce has buyers. Currently, 12 of the 39 community kitchens across the state are operational.

District Horticulture and Horticulture Officer (DHSO) Mahabubangar K. Venugopal talking to a farmer | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Cold storage

Another action plan is to set up cold storage facilities, providing 35% subsidy for setting up cold storage rooms (costing around ₹10 lakh) to individual farmers, he said. Other initiatives include setting up stalls in residential complexes where farmers can sell fresh farm produce. This is being tried in a gated community in Ibrahimpatnam. Several other initiatives are planned to fill the gaps that farmers suffer between harvest and sale. Horticulture officials said more farmers may opt for the switch as they understand that water resources may be scarce in the coming weeks.

Districts with maximum increase

According to the latest information from the horticulture department, Nalgonda, Nagarkurnool, Vikarabad, Mahabubabad and Mahabubnagar have seen the highest increase in area used for vegetables, spices, fruits and others.

Nalgonda District Horticulture and Horticulture Officer (DHSO) T. Sekhar said farmers have chosen a mix of horticultural crops including chilli, brinjal, gourd, tomato and others.

DHSO Mahabubangar K. Venugopal said that instead of replacing the entire paddy sown area, the farmers started growing horticultural crops on part of their land. “They have harvested the first crop and recorded the returns,” Mr. Venugopal said. For most vegetables, the crop comes in for the first harvest six to eight weeks after transplanting or sowing, and subsequent harvests from the same crop will continue for another eight weeks or so.

Published – 19 October 2026 6:30 PM IST