The Enumamula Agricultural Market authorities have declared that the market would be closed indefinitely from Monday in view of ongoing strike.
Market Committee chairman K Dharmaraju in a statement urged farmers not to bring any produce until further orders. There was no way of moving the produce purchased from farmers by the market and traders.
This has come like a shock to farmers who were already in distress to dispose their produce as they have to pay their debts. They also do not have any space or godown to stock their produce.
There were huge arrivals of chilli, redgram and maize already pending at the market for sale by the farmers.
Bhaskar, a farmer from Mallampalli, said the decision to close down the market would only increase their troubles.
Those who already brought the stock have to stay put there to protect their produce staying away from their family and work.
It may be noted that the Chilli farmers have been agitating over low price being offered and slow procurement. The produce which commanded ₹8,000 to ₹12,000 per quintal had come down to ₹3,000 to ₹4,000 per quintal in view of heavy arrivals.
No storage space
All the 19 cold storages in and around city were full and there was no way to stock. Hence, the traders were also hesitating to buy while the farmers were in a hurry to dispose their produce to repay their loans and meet other expenditure.
The leaders of various opposition parties were visiting the market to express solidarity with the agitating farmers.
