BENGALURU: The State Government on Friday decided to buy 10 lakh metric tonnes of maize to help farmers. This followed a meeting CM Siddaramaiah convened to discuss issues raised by maize farmers, who are protesting in North Karnataka.
Farmers are demanding that the government open maize procurement centres. The CM said he will write to the Union Government, asking it to stop importing maize from other countries. He pointed out that though the minimum support price (MSP) for maize is Rs 2,400 per quintal, the Centre has not started procuring the grain.
“The maize price has come down in the market, while the production has increased,” he said. It is estimated that the state has produced 55 lakh metric tonnes of maize this year, he added. Many other states too have produced maize in large quantities. “Despite this, the Centre is importing 70 lakh tonnes of maize. That is the reason central agencies, including the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd, have not started procuring maize’’ he alleged.
He directed officials to discuss with distillery owners to buy maize. But they have stocked up over the last few years when the prices fell. The CM also discussed issues related to green gram farmers.
Siddaramaiah said when he met PM Modi recently in Delhi, he had sought compensation for crops loss. Siddaramaiah said that issues related to green gram were also discussed, and a team of officials would visit Delhi to request a revision in the fair average quality norms.