After the paddy procurement row with the Centre and the urging farmers to opt for alternate crops,Telanganahas, for the first time in the country, began recording crop diversification patterns in the form of an index. The state grows 77 varieties, according to the crop diversification index, with about 10 crops, mostly grains, preferred for diversification. Nirmal, Vikarabad andSangareddyare more diverse in the state.
It has also been discovered that the three least diverse areas werePeddapalli,Karimnagar, and Suryapet. Interestingly, in these districts, where paddy cultivation is prevalent, maize Cropping area has decreased significantly, whileCottonincreased. The index, according to state officials, would serve as a baseline for future crop diversification in the state.
The index has a base value of one. It denotes the Percentage of total cropped area devoted to a single crop. Many districts in the state have index values ranging between 0 and 5, and the higher the value, the greater the crop diversification.
For the current index calculations, the area under 77 different crops, including all food, non-food, and Cash Crops, as well as the area under floriculture, was used.
Crop diversification efforts have resulted in a 77.9% decrease in maize acreage from 9.7 lakh acres in 2019-20 (in vaanakalam) to 2.1 lakh acres in 2020-21 (vanakaalam).
Cotton acreage increased by 10.9% during the same period, from 52.6 lakh acres to 58.3 lakh acres, while red gram increased by 45.1% from 7.3 lakh to 10.6 lakh acres.