Hyderabad: Jowar farmers of Adilabad district in Telangana on Monday blocked main roads to protest against the state government’s refusal to procure jowar (sorghum).
The Jowar farmers in the district have time and again claimed that the Telangana government over the last four years has been unwilling to procure their yield. This, they said, is despite chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao claiming that he would fight against the BJP-led central government to ensure constitutional validity for minimum support price (MSP).
Despite petitions being submitted to officials including the Collector of the district as well as select MLAs, there has been no concrete response from the Telangana government, the protesting Jowar farmers stated.
Farmers in the district are likely to suffer a loss of Rs 3000 per quintal in the private market if the Telangana government is unwilling to procure their produce. However, if sold at MSP, farmers are likely to make a profit of Rs 12,000, it added.
‘Days of resorting to suicide are inching closer
Speaking to Siasat.com, Vinod Reddy, a jowar farmer from Jamidi village of Adilabad who was a part of the protest, chuckled softly at the current plight farmers find themselves in.
“Ipati varaku evaru aatmahatya chesukoledu kaani aatmahatya chesukune rojulu daggara padtunayi, madam,” said Vinod. (No farmer has done it yet but the days of resorting to suicide are inching closer.)
Vinod Reddy further remarked that a lot of farmers from the district are in debt and small/marginal farmers with no more than 4-5 acres of land are likely to get affected the most. The accumulated harvest is lying in huge piles, likely to go waste, he added.
Prakash, another farmer from Kapparla village of Adilabad district in Telangana flagged similar concerns. “Private ga ammute Rs 1500 matram ae doruktundi, madam. Ipudu prabhutvam konte, oka Rs 2500 ayna ostadi (If we sell it privately we suffer a loss and make only Rs 1500. If the state procures it, we atleast make an amount of Rs 2500.),” said Prakash.
Prakash further added that since the state government has not tested soil, farmers are unsure of how much potassium (fertiliser) to use. “Deeni valla karchulu kuda perigi potunayi (This is also leading to increase in prices),” he added.
Glaring errors in state government’s operations
Discussing the woes of the Jowar farmers, Sree Harsha Thanneeru, a farm rights activist with the Rythu Swarajya Vedika pointed out two glaring fault lines in how the Telangana government has been operating.
“Chief minister KCR has been pushing for a constitutional guarantee for MSP and has been opposing the Union government since the protests surrounding farm laws broke out. It is crucial that he also implement MSP to alleviate the pain of farmers in Telangana,” he said.
Further, Harsha pointed out that despite the United Nations declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets, the Telangana government has turned a blind eye to the same.
As of now, there is no official response from the Telangana government on whether they will address the concerns raised by Jowar farmers. However, Vinod pointed out that if demands weren’t met, farmers are likely to hold a sit-in at a National Highway in the coming few weeks.
This Rabi saw Adilabad alone produce 4.5 lakhs of Jowar.
