K Chandrasekhar Rao to collect data of 54 lakh farmers

Hyderabad: On the directions of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the complete data of all farmers in Telangana state will be collected under the Rythu Samagra Survey. The survey will be on the lines of the integrated household survey undertaken by the state government in 2014.

The survey was to begin in the current month but with the code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections being in force, it has had to be postponed. It will now start after the elections and will be completed in three weeks, according to officials involved in the exercise.

There are about 54 lakh farmers in Telangana state, but there is no comprehensive data available on them with the government. Under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, only data pertaining to landholdings was collated.

The survey includes 35 questions such as Aadhaar number, bank account and mobile numbers, what crops are cultivated, the irrigation source, the type of soil, the modern technology used by the farmer, his/her income, what crop loans and crop insurance they have taken out, and the minimum support price for their crops. Farmers engaged in horticulture will also be included in the survey.

This data will be used in future by the government when policies regarding the farm sector are formulated.

Mr Rao is of the opinion that the state needs to be divided into crop colonies. In a recent review meeting on agriculture, he said, “Unfortunately, in the absence of appropriate statistical data, it is becoming difficult to take decisions. We need data on the amount of rice produced, fruits produced, and the domestic food needs of people.”

The common demand of farmers is minimum support price for agricultural produce.

This issue could be addressed if there is sufficient data on the farming community.