Reddy accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of “selling” farmers to middlemen.
Vijayawada: Reiterating that farmers in the state are in distress as they are unable to sell their produce, YSRC president and former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has demanded that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visit the mirchi yard and take measures to help them.
During his visit to the Mirchi yard in Guntur on Wednesday, Jagan Mohan Reddy interacted with farmers and enquired about their problems.
The YSRC president said that cotton farmers were not getting even Rs 7,000 while it was Rs 10,000 per tonne in the market and tomato farmers too were not getting a fair price.
He demanded that Naidu realise the reality at least now and come to the rescue of farmers.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said that ever since the coalition government came to power, the farmers were not only deprived of MSP but also not finding buyers for their produce.
He said, “The mirchi rate has drastically fallen from Rs 27,000 to Rs 8,000 per quintal and yield per acre has also reduced drastically when compared to the previous year. Above this, the input costs have gone up and the tenant farmers are bearing the brunt. The situation is the same in Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla, Prakasam, Kurnool and Anantapur as well,” he said.
Jagan Mohan Reddy further deplored that despite such a grave situation, there is no review from the government. The Chief Minister and the agriculture minister have no concern on farmers. He claimed that Naidu and his coalition government had done nothing to the farmers and stopped all the revolutionary reforms brought in by the YSRC government.
“In our term, we have given MSP not just to chilli, turmeric and onion but to 24 crops. If the farmers do not get MSP, the government has provided it and RBKs are used as an anchor point for farmers. While chilli farmers are facing hardships, Naidu is least bothered. We have made the best use of technology to map the prices of commodities across the state through CM APP,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
The YSRC chief said that when crops were affected by pests, our field staff used to take care of and advise farmers. He further stated that integrated farm labs were available for quality control and chilli farmers got the maximum price during our term.
He pointed out that the present government has reversed many of their decisions including crop insurance.
