Wayanad Samrakshana Samiti, a collective of farmer organisations in the district, has urged the government to stop discrimination meted out to the farmers in the district in fixing the minimum support price (MSP) for the “nendran” variety of plantain.
In a letter to Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar, the collective said that it welcomed the decision of the government in fixing the MSP for 16 varieties of vegetable produce in the State. But when the MSP was fixed for “nendran”, the government had discriminated against the farmers in Wayanad, a major nendran cultivating area in the State, P.M. Joy, general convenor of the organisation, said.
While the price for 1 kg of nendran was fixed at ₹30 a kg in the 13 other districts of the State, the government fixed only ₹24 a kg for the variety in Wayanad.
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The quality of the fruit was same in all district and there were no different variety of Wayanadan nendran, he said.
Thousands of farmers are engaged in plantain cultivation after the massive destruction of cash crops like pepper and ginger owing to various diseases.
According to the available data of the agriculture department, plantain is cultivated in over 12,000 hectares. The total production of the variety in the district is over 3 lakh tonnes a year, Mr. Joy said.
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The discriminatory pricing of the produce would adversely affect thousands of farmers. Hence, the government should fix a common MSP for the produce in the entire State, he said.
The organisation urged the government to declare wild animal which raid crops as vermin.
The organisation would stage a dharna in front of the offices of civic bodies and Krishi Bhavans in the district on November 11 raising its demands, he said.