Bring chilli crop under MSP category: Telangana State to Centre

Hyderabad: Following severe unrest among chilli farmers which is brewing into a political storm, the TRS government has forwarded a report to the Union government explaining the plight of farmers and urged it to bring the commercial crop under minimum support price (MSP) category.Talking to The Hans India, a senior official of the Agriculture department said the government in its report had also asked the Centre to introduce market intervention scheme for the purchase of chilli directly from farmers and protect them from exploitation by middlemen in the market yards.

The report has also mentioned that farmers were getting only Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 per quintal this season. It was the lowest ever price they were getting as compared to the last three years.  Last year, the farmers got Rs 10,000 per quintal, it said.The reason for steep decline in chilli prices in Telangana, according to the sources, was that the crop had registered 25 per cent more yield this year. Nearly 7 lakh metric tonnes of chilli was produced from 1.22 lakh hectares in three erstwhile districts of Khammam, Warangal and Mahbubnagar. 

The source said the increase in production led to steep fall in prices. Another problem was lack of required cold storage facilities as middlemen have already blocked the space.  The official said farmers would get relief only when the prices are fixed at minimum of Rs 7,000 per quintal in view of the increased input cost. The Telangana government has also urged the Union government to provide Rs 1,500 relief through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) when the prices are below Rs 6,000.  

The state government stressed the need for intervention of NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) to rescue the farming community from distress immediately.   Official sources said that on the instruction of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, an MPs’ delegation and official team from the state led by Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy would pursue the issue of the announcement of MSP for chilli seriously with the Union Agriculture ministry.