Irate farmers reportedly set fire to paddy following non-procurement of the produce and harassment by millers and traders at a procurement centre in Laxmipur village of Thangallapalli mandal in the district.
Reports reaching here said the farmers took huge quantity of paddy to the procurement centre. But, traders and millers refused to buy the paddy blaming heavy moisture content and chaff and told them to get the paddy cleaned for securing the minimum support price. Farmers argued with traders claiming that they had brought cleaned paddy, but were being harassed on various pretexts and forcing them to resort to distress sale. In protest, the farmers doused a heap of paddy with petrol and set it on fire to lodge their protest. The farmers complained that they had to spend lot of money on pesticides to protect the crop from rice blast disease. The farmers also suffered huge loss due to the recent unseasonal rains as it damaged standing crops and washed away the produce at some procurement centres.
Meanwhile, farmers staged a dharna with pesticide cans in Jagtial district demanding the government and traders to procure their paddy in Jabithapur village of Pegadapalli mandal. The police arrested 30 farmers for staging dharna during the lockdown period.
