HYDERABAD: Stating that farmers will get Rs 4,000 per acre as farm input from May 15 this year, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday said they would also be focusing on how the farmers would get minimum support price (MSP) or remunerative prices for their agriculture produce. A team of officials headed by marketing minister T Harish Rao will soon tour Maharashtra and Karnataka, and study the MSP system there and submit a detailed report to the government.
At a review meeting on agriculture sector on Friday, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said: “There is uncertainty over the prices of cotton and other produces. Though the Cotton Corporation of India and other agencies are involved in the purchase of cotton, cotton farmers are still facing lots of problems. We need a strategy to bail out farmers from this situation, mostly arising out of volatile situation in international markets,” the CM said. Now, only paddy and maize are getting MSP.
Rao said that the Rythu Samanvya Samithis should purchase the agriculture produce and sell the same in markets. “Every crop raised in the state should be brought under the market net,” he said.
“My intention is to ensure that not only paddy, maize and pulses, but also turmeric, cotton, chillies, mango, lemon, orange and other commercial crops too should get remunerative prices. The policy to be framed by the state government will be in accordance to that,” Rao said.
The CM, however, felt that the Central government too should act in a generous manner and announce Rs 2,000 as MSP for paddy and maize. The Centre should announce MSP for each and every crop raised in the country. “We will speak to the Centre on this. The TRS MPs too will raise the same in the Parliament,” Rao said. The chief minister said that they were conducting a study on the consumption of various food grains by the people in the state through a Central government agency. Once the report was out, then the state would decide the cropping pattern, according to the food habits of the people in the state.
Separate budget
Rao said that the state government would present a separate budget from this year onwards for agriculture. There would be no dearth of funds if there was a separate budget for agriculture, he added.
Cabinet sub-committee
Rao also constituted a cabinet sub-committee under agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy on how to implement the `4,000 per acre scheme (investment support scheme). Ministers Etela Rajender, T Harish Rao, Tummala Nageswara Rao, G Jagadish Reddy and P Mahender Reddy are members of the committee.