Hyderabad: After good yield, profit worries horticulturists

Hyderabad: Horticulture farmers in AP, particularly those who raised crops like pomegranate, mango and tomato and earned lakhs of rupees in the past three years, are worried due to the demonetisation of old currency notes as they kept the cash at home instead of depositing in banks. The Federation of Farmers Associations said that though there was no problem for farmers as it was agricultural income, the concerns were of producing documents, as buyers in the marketing yard never give receipts.

Farmer in areas like Madanapalle in Chittoor have around '25 lakh to '50 lakh cash in hand depending on acreage. Federation of Farmers Associations’ chief advisor P. Changal Reddy said, “We welcome the move of demonetisation wholeheartedly, and black money has to be curbed. There would certainly be some problems initially that we should bear with. We have received several queries from farmers, particularly horticulture farmers in Anantapur and Chittoor. These farmers have been raising these crops for decades. Recently, due to modern farming techniques, the yields have increased. For instance, in a year, they got profits of around '30 lakh per acre in some areas. But many of them haven’t deposited the money in banks.” He added, “As they don’t get receipts, it may be difficult. However, our associations are going to take up this issue with the government.”