Even as the Telangana Government announced the procurement of jowar (sorghum) produced in the rabi season, farmers in the state have demanded that the Government purchase the entire output, doing away with the cap of 5.16 quintals an acre.
“The Government’s decision to cap purchases at 5.16 quintal an acre is unfair. In districts such as Adilabad and Vikarabad, farmers have reaped 11-15 quintals,” the Rythu Swarajya Vedika, an umbrella organisation of farmers’ associations, NGOs and farm scientists, said.
With market prices falling below MSP, the State Government has directed Markfed to procure about 65,000 tonnes harvested in the just concluded rabi season, at Rs 2,970 a quintal. It has offered to provide Markfed a Rs 220-crore bank guarantee for the purchase.
It is estimated that about one lakh farmers went for the rainfed crop on about 51,400 hectares in the rabi season, as against the rabi average of 35,600 hectares.
The association pointed out that last year, too, the Government offered to buy 1.31 lakh tonnes of jowar harvested during the 2021-22 rabi season.
“They said they would buy 10.44 quintals an acre, but ended up buying only 25,786 tonnes, missing the target miserably,” it said.
The association has asked the government to raise the per-acre cap for purchases, and bail out the farmers.