Following reports of angry chilli farmers dumping their produce in all major market yards and in some places setting the produce afire on roads in protest against sharp fall in prices, the Ministry of Agriculture has decided to procure red chillies under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The politics on red chilli has become a hot topic for the Opposition parties in Andhra and Telangana to take on the ruling parties.
The announcement by Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh came on Wednesday amid the continuing protests by the farmers as well as the Opposition parties in Khammam and Warangal districts.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday met Radhamohan Singh in Delhi and briefed him about the woes of the chilli farmers due to the drastic fall in the procurement of chilli from the farmers.
“The Market Intervention Price (MIP) will be Rs 5,000 per quintal of red chilli with the overhead expenses of Rs 1,250 per quintal or actual whichever is less. The overhead expenses include purchase tax, mandi tax, godown charges, packing material, loading/unloading, commission, transportation, grading, packaging /stitching charges etc,” a Ministry source said.
“The losses, if any, will be shared on 50:50 basis between the Central Government and State Governments. However, the loss is restricted up to 25 per cent of the procurement cost (maximum limit of loss to be shared between Central and State Governments) including the permissible overheads,” a source added.
Angry farmers were on the roads setting the chilli stocks on fire at different places in Khammam and Warangal districts over the last one week after the chilli prices crashed from Rs 12,000 per quintal to Rs 4,000 per quintal due to the glut of the produce.
In Mulugu town of Jayashankar Bhupalapally district, farmers observed a strike demanding a price of Rs 12,000 pet quintal.
The procurement of chilli was continuing amid tight security in the chilli market yards at different places in view of the violent incident in Khammam market yard last week.
The Opposition Congress and the left parties have taken up the issue of the farmers and organised blockades of roads demanding the succour for the farmers. They also laid a siege to Khammam district by organising blockades at all the entry points to protest against the arrest of the farmers. They were angry that the State Government was not allowing Congress leaders to visit the families of farmers arrested in connection with violence in Khammam.
Chilli farmers were dejected and angry with the State Government for not coming to their rescue. “It was on the advice of the State Government that instead of cotton we went for the pulses and chilli crop this year. But now the Government has failed to ensure a remunerative price for chilli,” said a farmer in Mulugu.
In Warangal market yard, the market committee secretary Azmeera Raju said that the traders were buying chilli at a slightly higher price ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,800 indicating an improvement in the situation.
The State Government officials were hoping that the Centre’s new announcement was likely to ease the situation further.