WARANGAL: Stating that due to lack of vision and agriculture policy, the entire agriculture sector is in deep crisis, TJAC chairman M Kodandaram said that until a transparent and pro-farmer policy was brought in the state, the sector would continue to suffer.
Speaking at a seminar on ‘Agriculture crisis’ organised by Telangana Navanirmana Vedika on Sunday, Kodandaram said that though over 80 per cent of the people in the country depends on the agriculture sector, there was no policy to guide the sector. “We have been demanding the government to set up Farmers’ Commission since long but no steps have been taken in this direction till now,” he said.
According to him, though over 95 per cent are small and marginal farmers in the country having a land holding of less than 5 acres, the government was not taking measures to protect their interests. “They do not get crop loans and other inputs. It can not even save them from spurious seed suppliers,” he alleged.
Govt is making the poor landless: TJAC
Accusing the state government of taking away lands of farmers in the name of land acquisition for various irrigation projects, the TJAC chief said that since most of the Dalits and poor farmers do cultivation on assigned lands, the government forcefully takes away their lands and deny them sources of livelihood.
Ridiculing the proposal of state government to form farmers associations in every village to improve agriculture and providing support system, Kodandaram said the farmers association would be of no use until the government provides help to farmers and bring pro-farmer policies. “These associations would turn into vote banks for the ruling TRS. It would be of no use for farmers,” he said.