Distribution of alternative crops as part of eradication of ganja cultivation, in Alluri Sitarama Raju district.
ASR district officials have included avocado, a new variety of alternative crop, as part of efforts to check ganja cultivation in Andhra Pradesh. Officials have started distributing avocado seeds for cultivation in six acres on an experimental basis.
Avocado is an exotic fruit with roots in Mexico and Central America. India’s nearest export market is Kuwait. As the avocado plant grows in temperatures below 38° Celsius, the officials considered ASR district as an ideal place for this crop. It is an Australian avocado variety imported to India through Bangladesh. If an acre of avocado is cultivated properly, it can produce about 500-600 quintals and the farmer can get a profit of ₹4 lakh to ₹5 lakh, officials said.
The police department has identified people who used to cultivate ganja in the past, who will now be selected as recipients for the alternative crop scheme. Officials of the Horticulture Department will study local conditions and suggest ideal alternative crops.
Accordingly, the departments concerned have targeted to distribute 20 alternative crops including avocado in 10,290 acres of crop area in 11 mandals in the 2023-24 financial year.
According to the official statistics of the police department, the 20 crops identified are: cashew (1,623 acres), custard apple (120 acres), sweet orange (929 acres), acid lime (490 acres), guava (57 acres), coconut (114 acres), sapota (537 acres), tamarind (72 acres), moringa (9 acres), mango (49 acres), avocado (four acres), oil palm (29 acres), dragon fruit (20 acres), pomegranate (six acres), Jamun (160 acres), silver oak (1,516 acres) and Rajmah (4,553 acres).
The alternative crops will be cultivated in the following mandals: Ananthagiri (762 acres), Araku Valley (682 acres), Chintapalli (1,552 acres), Dumbriguda (440 acres), G. Madugula (880 acres), G.K. Veedhi (2,009 acres), Hukumpeta (824 acres), Koyyuru (916 acres), Munchingiputtu (756 acres), Paderu (623 acres) and Pedabayalu (845 acres).
Visakhapatnam Range Deputy Inspector General Gopinath Jatti recently held a review meeting with Superintendents of Police including ASR SP Amit Bardar on measures being taken to curb ganja cultivation.
In fact, supply of alternative crops had started in the year 2021-22. Departments initiated efforts such as the use of drones to verify cannabis cultivation and identify new crops. Inter-departmental committees were also formed to visit villages to identify places and people to distribute alternative crops and conduct awareness meetings to wean away farmers from cannabis cultivation. A total of 8,585 farmers have benefited from the distribution of alternative crops in 11 mandals so far, it is learnt.
