Farmers are resorting to distress sale of paddy produce even though they had secured bumper harvest and the Union government increased the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy from this kharif season. Reason? The State government had failed to open Indira Kranthi Pathakam (IKP) procurement centres, primary agricultural cooperative societies or DCMS centres in the district, and hasn’t even started procuring paddy at agricultural market yards.
Heaps of paddy crop are drying up in the fields. Private millers and traders are directly visiting villages with their vehicles and weighing machines and procuring paddy from farmers paying them less than the MSP.
When the government increased MSP of paddy from ₹1,510 per quintal for A grade variety to ₹1,770 and from ₹1,470 per quintal for ordinary variety to ₹1,750, farmers were forced to resort to distress sale from ₹1,400 to ₹1,500 a quintal.
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Rythu Ikya Vedika district president Muduganti Venkat Reddy alleged officials have colluded with private rice millers and were not opening procurement centres.
However, officials said the centres would open in three to four days in all villages.