Telangana Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy today stated that the government would soon take steps to produce power from bio-waste, the biodegradable waste of fruits and vegetables, generated in the markets of the state.
At a meeting with the board of the state Agros Industries Development Corporation, the minister said that a high-level committee would visit the existing bio-waste power generation units in Tirupati, Adoni and Piduguralla in Andhra Pradesh, and Indore in Madhya Pradesh, and conduct a detailed study of the same.
"The committee will observe the functioning of the bio-waste power generation units in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh so that similar plants can be replicated in our state. The commission will also submit a report to the government on what they observed. The decision to establish the plants in Telangana will be based on this report," he said.
Explaining the motivation behind such a program, Reddy said that the TRS government was aiming to bring in technological innovations and welfare schemes to benefit the state's farmers.
"It is important that the farmers adopt new technologies as this will increase the profitability of their occupation. They often face losses because many of them continue to use traditional farming technology. The TRS government hopes that it can act to change this reality by and by," he said.
Talking about the government's other schemes for the farmers, the minister said that the state's Rythu Vedikas were also being strengthened to train and advise farmers about profit-boosting practices, and that steps were being taken to guarantee that the farmers' crops were bought at the relevant MSPs.
While the TRS government has always maintained that it is a truly "pro-farmer" regime, it made itself vulnerable to a
barrage of criticism for being pronouncedly "anti-farmer" when it announced its decision to
implement the Centre's controversial new farm Acts. The decision has reportedly left many farmers wondering whether they would continue to receive the MSP for their crops.