Groundnut farmers facing odds due to repeated losses in cultivation

Anantapur: In view of the huge loss of groundnut crop in the region, the opposition parties and farmer organisations are mounting pressure on the government to help those who incurred loss repeatedly.

TD politburo member Kalava Sreenivasulu said Rs 800 crore worth of groundnut crop was damaged during the kharif season in Anantapur district alone due to rain-deficit conditions.

“Normally, at least 10 lakh acres of groundnut crop is raised in Anantapur and Satya Sai districts alone. But, the distressed farmers with repeated loss of crops are unable to take up groundnut cultivation now,” he said.

He said, “As against a total acreage of 5.77 lakh to be sown in Anantapur district, farmers have taken up groundnut cultivation in only 3.05 lakh acres this year. The situation is alarming year after year," he said.

Sreenivasulu visited the fields where groundnut crop withered due to rain deficit and abnormal temperatures, at Avuladinne village in Rayadurg mandal, and interacted with the affected farmers.

The TD leader said the state government failed to support the farmers that incurred huge losses. He stressed the need to announce and implement a special package for groundnut farmers. The government ignored the compensation requirement for farmers who incurred losses the previous years, he noted.

CPI state secretary K. Ramakrishna, who had visited the groundnut fields of Anantapur went to meet them again in Rapthadu mandal on Thursday.