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After observing crop holiday in about three lakh acres in water-rich areas in Andhra Pradesh as a mark of protest against very low incomes, farmers now have decided to reach out to their peers in other parts of the country.
Besides making their protest audible in the national capital, the farmers would like to produce less in order to turn demand-supply equation to their favour.
“Governments, both at the Centre and States, have taken us for granted. We are being forced to beg for remunerative prices. We have decided to make a collective statement by announcing at least crop holiday across the country,” Mr P. Chengal Reddy, Secretary-General of Confederation of Indian Farmers' Associations (CIFA), told Business Line .
To begin with, the association would organise meetings in Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka through their member organisations to bring home the message on the need for a crop holiday.
“We have appealed to them to go for crop holiday in at least 5-10 per cent of the total irrigated area. We are going to hold meetings with them in the next few weeks and convince them on the issue,” he said.
Kharif sowing
Asked whether permission to exports was not handy, Mr Chengal Reddy said the move would help only traders. “They should have announced this five months ago when we asked for it. This would have created good demand, resulting in better incomes to farmers. Giving permission for exports would not help farmers,” he said.
Progressive farmers in Andhra Pradesh have hit headlines in the State last month when they announced their decision not to go for kharif sowings.
The Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, himself had asked the farmers to give in. The farmers, however, are not relenting. “Farming has become unviable. Cost of production is crossing Rs 20,000-mark for an acre. Our returns barely cover this. About 30 per cent of the produce from rabi season is still with us. There are no takers,” Mr N. Subba Rao, a farmer from Achanta in East Godavari district, said.
Farmers in the East Godavari district, a top ranking paddy area in the country, are not growing paddy in about one lakh acres.
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