Policy driven expansion of rice cultivation area in Telangana

Since Telangana became a state in 2014, rice farming has grown a lot. The area under rice farming increased from about 20 lakh hectares in 2013–14 to nearly 50 lakh hectares in 2022–23. Because of this, rice production more than doubled. This big jump happened mainly because of government support—building more irrigation projects, giving farmers free electricity, providing financial help through the Rythu Bandhu scheme, and buying rice from farmers at a fixed Minimum Support Price (MSP). Between 2015 and 2024, the extra rice grown added about ₹40,300 crores to Telangana’s economy, which is around 2.8% of the state’s income in 2023–24. But there are also challenges. Rice farming uses a lot of water and electricity, depends heavily on government buying, and makes farmers too dependent on one crop. In short, rice farming has boosted Telangana’s economy because of strong policies, but to stay sustainable in the future, the state will need to promote crop diversity and use resources more carefully.