With No MSP, Tamarind Selling for Rs 40 a Kg in Paderu Weekly Market

Farmer Appala Raju, who arrived at the Paderu weekly market with a substantial quantity of tamarind, has expressed concern. He says as it is already April, the Andhra Pradesh Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) must have started their purchasing centres at the weekly markets.

However, the GCC has not taken any action in this regard. It is customary for farmers to depend on GCC-determined prices for selling their produce.

Farmers had waited from morning till the afternoon, hoping for announcement of a price favourable to them. As GCC did not act in this regard, farmers started selling their tamarind at the market-dictated price of ₹40 a kg. Usually, in absence of government intention, it is a group of traders who determine the price in the area.

Traders estimate that approximately 20 tonnes of tamarind has arrived at the local weekly market.

Said Polamma, a woman farmer, “For the past few years, GCC has not shown any interest in buying tamarind. It only announces a support price that is decided by the central government,” she said.

In the absence of any such announcement by the centre, GCC has remained silent on the Tamarind price issue.

When Deccan Chronicle contacted GCC vice chairman and managing director Gedela Suresh Kumar said the corporation purchased huge quantities of tamarind in 2020–21. GCC. The following year, it did not purchase much of the product. In 2023, it purchased more than 1,000 metric tonnes of tamarind.

“This year also, GCC is planning to procure a similar quantity,” Suresh Kumar stated.