Kadapa: Farmers were very disappointed with the announcement made on hiking Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the paddy by Central Government as it is relatively very less with the steep increase in their input costs.
According to the Agriculture Expenditure and Cost Commission (AE&CC) Chairman Acharya Vijaya Gopala Sharma submitted report at South Indian States Regional Conference (SISRC) recently in New Delhi, Rs 27,000 has to be spent by farmers to cultivate in 1 acre of following skyrocketing prices of seeds, power tariff, fertilizers, pesticides, and cost of labour charges.
Farmers maintain that they have to spend Rs 29,000 per acre as investment cost. They have to go to other districts for purchasing paddy seeds due to lack of Agriculture Research Station (ARS) in Kadapa district. They have to spend huge amounts for installing bore wells as they are forced to dig for not less than 1000 feet to get water. They are purchasing fertilisers in black market.
Farmers have grown paddy varieties like ‘Nellore Sannalu, Jai Sri ram, Jagityala Jilakara 555 variety in the mandals like Sidhavatam, Mydukuru, Yerrnguntla, Chapadu, Rayachoti, Proddaturu, Badvel etc mandals around in around 45,000 hectors as against total 3 lakh hectors crop area under reservoirs, bore wells , rain fed tanks in the in the last Kharief. It is proposed to cultivate in 23,970 acres in current Rabi season.
As there are no hopes of getting MSP because of huge investments cultivation of paddy has become much more difficult for the farmers. Due to insufficient Paddy Purchasing Centres (PPC) ,we are selling the products at cheaper rates to the middle men. Government store fertilisers are only present for farmers performing corporate cultivation,†said A. Ramakota Reddy of N Obulayalapalli village of Mydukuru mandal.
One more farmer P.Venkata Krishna Reddy of PP Kunta in Gopavaram mandal told that to cultivate paddy in 1 acre ha had to invest more than Rs 29,000. Unwillingly he sold the produce at cheaper rates.
