District Agriculture Officer V.T. Rama Rao has urged farmers to adopt crop diversification to improve soil fertility and achieve more yield and income. Those growing commercial crops instead of the regular paddy will get government support, he says.
The campaign to promote commercial crops like maize, pulses, millets and vegetables has evoked good response from farmers, Mr. Rao tells The Hindu.
“As advised by Collector A. Suryakumari, we have been explaining the benefits of commercial crops to farmers. They are spending around ₹22,000 per acre on paddy but the return is hardly ₹37,500. They can earn more with commercial crops as the government has fixed a decent Minimum Support Price for them,” he says.
