Hyderabad: The Telangana high court on Tuesday issued a notice to the state government to respond to a petition that sought urgent procurement of Rabi Jowar crop from farmers in the state.
The court sent this notice after hearing a PIL filed by Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV) activist S Borranna.
The petitioner said that farmers are forced to sell the Rabi jowar crop under severe loss at a price of Rs.1500-1700 per quintal while the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is Rs.2,738 per quintal.
The deficit of more than Rs 1000 per quintal compared to the MSP means that the farmers are facing severe financial loss and becoming severely indebted, the petitioner further said.
Farmers in Adilabad have been holding protests demanding MSP procurement for jowar. In the Adilabad district alone, 31,346 acres of Jowar have been grown in Rabi 2021-22. The total extent of jowar cultivation in the state is more than 1 lakh acres this year due to an increase in other districts such as Asifabad, Kamareddy, Vikarabad and Sangareddy, because of the state government’s emphasis on shift from paddy to other crops during this Rabi season.
The petitioners also submitted to the court the revised guidelines of December 2021 under the National Food Security Act which provide for the states to procure millets such as jowar under the central pool for FCI, as well as for use in the food security schemes such as ICDS and mid-day meal scheme. “Despite this, the state government has not come up with a consistent plan for procurement of jowar,” the petitioner said.
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