Hyderabad: A shortage of gunny bags at Siddipet market yard has forced sunflower farmers in Siddipet district to sell their produce to private traders at a loss, Telangana Rythu Sangham activists found during their inspection on Monday, March 10.
According to M Shobhan, joint secretary of the organization, farmers in Siddipet district have cultivated sunflower on 11,202 acres out of the total 18,000 acres across the state this year.
During the visit, activists observed that farmers had brought their produce to the market yard two weeks ago, hoping for procurement by MARKFED. However, due to the unavailability of gunny bags, their produce has been lying in the yard since then.
Though the minimum support price of sunflower is Rs 7,280 per quintal, with no procurement in progress, farmers are selling their produce to private traders between Rs 4,800 and Rs 5,200 per quintal, incurring a loss of around Rs 2,000 per quintal.
“Presently there is sunflower produce inside the market yard, for which 3,000 gunny bags are needed for procurement. A total of 20,000 gunny bags are needed to cover the entire sunflower produce from the district. Siddipet market secretary Venkataiah told us that tomorrow, March 11, 2,000 gunny bags will be made available,” Shobhan told Siasat.com.
For the past few years Siddipet has been emerging as a major producer of sunflower, with farmers reaping 8 to 10 quintals of sunflower seeds per acre. The shift to sunflower as a profitable oilseed has been a result of a fair minimum support price (MSP) declared by the government.
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