HYDERABAD: After farmers’ anger erupted in a mahadharna at Jagtial over lack of takers for maize, the State government on Friday decided to purchase the crop cultivated in the Kharif season. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who took stock of the situation at a review meeting at Pragati Bhavan here asked the Markfed to procure maize after Dasara at paddy procurement centres by paying a minimum support price of Rs 1,850 per quintal.
However, the government has asked farmers not to cultivate maize in the ensuing Rabi season. “If the farmers cultivate the crop during the Rabi season, the government will not take any responsibility. We will not purchase the maize grown either,” the CM said.
Farmers not following State guidelines
During the review meeting, KCR recalled that the State government had urged farmers not to go in for maize in the Kharif season as they would not get the MSP for the produce. “Despite my caution, the farmers went in for maize,” the CM said. He, however, said that the government has decided to bear the losses and purchase maize to protect the farmers. The responsibility of purchasing maize doesn’t fall on the government, as it had already asked farmers not to grow the crop. Yet, the government is buying the crop so that the farmers don’t incur losses,” the CM added.
KCR recalled that in the previous Rabi season, Markfed had purchased 9 lakh tonnes of maize and paid Rs 1,668 crore to farmers. As there was no demand for maize in open market, the government received only Rs 823 crore when it auctioned the produce, incurring a loss of Rs 845 crore.
The government, however, had purchased the produce with an MSP of Rs 1,760 per quintal. With the transportation and other charges, the government spent Rs 2,000 per quintal. But it got only Rs 1,150 per quintal in the auction, and the net loss was Rs 850 crore, the CM explained.
Agri Dept to get new wings
In another decision, Chief Minster cleared a proposal for creation of two new wings in Agriculture Departments. One wing would take care of water for irrigation, power, fertiliser and seeds, and other basic infrastructure activity. This wing will coordinate with the departments concerned.
The second wing will focus on marketing. It should study which crops have demand in the country, in the world, and which crops would help farmers get profits? It should prepare strategies in coordination with Marketing and Civil Supplies Departments to get better price for farmers. IAS officers would head both these wings, the Chief Minister declared.
“There is a need to increase the extent of cultivation of other crops along with paddy and cotton. Red gram cultivation in the State needs to be extended to 20 to 25 lakh acres. Oil Palm should be cultivated in 12 lakh acres. Chilli, turmeric, pulses and vegetables in 15 lakh acres. The officers should advise the farmers on which crops to cultivate based on availability of water, nature of the soil and weather conditions,” the Chief Minster said.
CM stresses importance of regulated crop policy in State
During the review meeting Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao pointed out that the regulated crop policy has been introduced to ensure that farmers get remunerative price for their produce. “The price of maize has fallen drastically in the country due to the lopsided policy of the BJP-led government at the Centre. The same BJP leaders are indulging in cheap politics in the State now,” he alleged
TS producing more than AP: says Vemula
Nizamabad: State R&B, Legislative Affairs and Housing Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy said on Friday that Telangana was ahead of Andhra Pradesh in production of food grains. He said last year, the FCI had procured 50 lakh MT of paddy from Telangana, and only 8 lakh MT from AP. He said said the State government had accorded top priority to agriculture and farmers