Agitated over the market price of chilli crashing to a new low every other day, farmers under the aegis of the Prakasam district Rythu Sangam made a bonfire of chilli on the Chennai-Kolkata national highway demanding market intervention by the Union and State governments.
The farmers, led by sangam secretary D. Gopinath, blocked traffic on the highway and rejected the incentive of ₹1,500 per quintal announced by the State government as it would not help them in any way.
A strong posse of police, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police G. Srinivasa Rao, rushed to the spot and restored traffic on the highway.
The market would recover only when the Centre and the State government directly procured chilli from farmers offering at least ₹10,000 a quintal, said its president M. Srinivasa Rao. Farmers who had spent over ₹1.5 lakh per acre would incur heavy losses if they were left at the mercy of traders, who knocked away with a majority of their produce at a throw-away price, said. YSR Congress ryots wing district president Mareddy Subba Reddy.
Novel protest
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Rythu Coolie Sangam activists, led by its State general secretary Ch. Venkateswarulu, staged a novel demonstration with a farmer posing himself with a hangman’s noose in front of the Collectorate to highlight the plight of the debt-ridden farmers, who were unable to get a remunerative price not only for chilli but also for other commercial crops.
