Farmers’ leader Kurubur Shanthakumar has accused the State government of entrusting the task of purchasing paddy to rice mill owners.
He was speaking to reporters after a meeting with Mysuru Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jyothi here on Friday.
Mr. Shanthakumar, who is also president of the Kabini Farmers’ Hitarakshana Samiti, said the government may have announced a minimum support price of ₹1,750 a quintal for the paddy and set up procurement centres in different parts of the State, but “unfortunately, it has entrusted the rice mill owners to purchase the paddy,” he alleged.
The government should have purchased the paddy through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which would have forced the rice mill owners to offer a remunerative price to farmers for the paddy in competition.
The government is depriving the farmers of an opportunity to sell their paddy for a competitive price by entrusting the rice mill owners to purchase it.
Besides, the government has fixed a ceiling of 40 quintals for each farmer to sell at the paddy procurement centre.
The farmers also lodged a complaint with the government against the delay by Bannari Amman sugar factory in purchasing sugarcane from growers in Mysuru district.
Mr. Shanthakumar, who also heads the Sugarcane Growers’ Association of Karnataka, said the sugar factory management had not bought the sugarcane grown by farmers of Mysuru district for the last 14 to 15 months. Instead, the management was procuring sugarcane grown in Mandya.
Also, he demanded payment of an additional ₹300 over the ₹2,650 a quintal of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) announced by the government in view of the high costs incurred by farmers.
He said the ZP CEO had constituted a task force to study the complaints made by sugarcane farmers against the sugar factory. The task force has been directed to submit its report within a week.
