Hyderabad: Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Friday said that the future of Telangana’s agriculture lies not merely in increasing production, but in enhancing the value of farm produce. He called for a decisive shift towards value-based, market-oriented farming.Speaking at the 62nd foundation day celebrations of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTAU), the minister said that technologies such as AI, drones, and precision farming must be rapidly adopted to bring ‘revolutionary changes’ to the agriculture sector. He stressed that improving farmers’ incomes requires a stronger focus on value addition and market integration rather than only output expansion.He urged PJTAU to play a leading role in positioning Telangana as a national benchmark in agriculture, particularly by driving innovation and technology-led transformation in the sector. Highlighting the university’s contribution over the decades, the minister said PJTAU has developed 525 crop varieties in the past 62 years, significantly shaping agricultural productivity in the region and beyond.He noted that rice varieties such as Telangana Sona, BPT-5204 and MTU-1010, along with maize hybrids from the DHM series, have earned widespread acceptance among farmers across the country. Plan for 2047 released on the occasion of foundation day on Friday, outlines a structured shift towards climate-smart agriculture, digital farming systems, and market-linked rural development. The plan is built on three core pillars, education, research, and extension, which aims to improve adoption and rural livelihoods.By integrating the three pillars, PJTAU aims to evolve into a globally competitive institution and secure a place among the world’s top 100 agricultural universities.
