Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said the government had initiated a string of measures to make agriculture remunerative to farmers and it was committed to ensuring that all the problems faced by farmers were resolved.
The government had succeeded in providing timely inputs to farmers, including power, fertilizer and water supply that brought down the costs of agriculture, and it had now focussed attention on ensuring remunerative prices to farm produce. According to reports received by the government, over 60% of the cotton available in the market was procured at prices higher than the minimum support price announced by the Centre.
There were, however, concerns about the high moisture content, discolouration and other problems which the government was looking into.
“We are seized of the matter and we will spare no effort in seeing that farmers are benefited,” he said. The Chief Minister was replying to a query raised by the Congress during the Question Hour in the Legislative Assembly.
He rebutted the Congress’ charge that the government had remained indifferent to the demand for announcement of bonus and payment of compensation to farmers who suffered crop loss owing to untimely rains.
He clarified that the government could not bear the entire amount of losses incurred owing to natural calamities as there were limitations under which it had to function. “The budget of four years will not be sufficient to compensate losses due to a cyclone. The government is trying to see that the entire produce of farmers is procured,” he said.
He charged the Congress with trying to provoke farmers to burn their crops and utilising anti-social elements at farm yards for gaining publicity. “They (Congress leaders) are indulging in silly tactics to gain publicity,” he said.
Earlier, Congress member T. Jeevan Reddy alleged that the government remained unconcerned even after reports that a farmer in Suryapet had set his crop afire. The government should announce bonus to paddy, cotton and other crops on the lines of other States, including Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, besides ensuring that conditions like moisture content were relaxed during procurement of cotton.
Another Congress member, Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, alleged that cases of sedition had been registered against farmers who were agitating to secure minimum support price to chillies.