Telangana has added another feather in its cap by ensuring kharif crop in a whopping 1.36 crore acres of land, which is the highest in the country in terms of percentage. This tiny south Indian state is fast emerging as another rice bowl of India borne out by the quantum of the staple the Food Corporation of India sourced from the state during the last Rabi season—as much as half of the total procurement across the country.

In a complete turnaround within six years, ever since the formation of Telangana in 2014, the state has proved its naysayers wrong. One of the arguments against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was that people in Telangana would be pushed to starvation as its farmers did not know how to raise a decent crop. The green revolution kicked in after Chief Minister C Chandrashekar Rao took up big-ticket projects like Mission Kakatiya (revival of irrigation tanks) and construction of the mega Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project.

Feeding water to various ongoing irrigation projects by diverting the Godavari through the lift irrigation scheme is clearly helping North Telangana enhance its crop area. Besides his thrust on irrigation, KCR offered 24x7 free power supply to agriculture pump sets and Rs10,000 to farmers for each acre of cultivated land under the Rythu Bandhu (investment support) scheme. Helping farmers get good yield is one thing but ensuring an equally good price for it is another. The government should quickly strengthen marketing facilities to prevent distress sales.