Sorghum ryots suffer as govt yet to purchase crop

ADILABAD: At a time when farmers cultivating various crops are struggling to make both ends meet, owing to the resurgence of Covid cases and the restrictions in place, the State government, which is supposed to be a lifeline for the ryots, has not even begun purchasing sorghum from the growers, leaving them in dire straits. Since the government, which used to buy sorghum from farmers every year via Markfed, is yet to begin the procurement process, scores of ryots who cultivated the crop during Yasingi are left in the lurch.

Since the crop require only less irrigation water and can give good results, while even its waste is useful in feeding cattle, more and more ryots have been coming forward to take up sorghum cultivation. According to sources, the farmers in the district utilised about 33,000 acres to grow the crop this year and managed to get an yield of 10 to 12 quintals per acre.

However, since the authorities concerned have not yet begun the procurement processes, the ryots are a worried lot and since private traders purchase the crop for about `500 less than the support price of `2,620 per quintal, the ryots are certain that they might incur major losses this year. Speaking to Express, a farmer named A Rajeshwar said that private traders are making the best use of this situation by purchasing crop from the ryots for a very less price.