Farmers Need Financial Aid, Not Assurances: Tummala
Tummala said there was an urgent need to provide employment and financial security to agricultural labourers during drought conditions and urged for an increase in fund allocations under the relevant schemes.
Hyderabad: Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Saturday said that mere assurances and conducting awareness programmes and giving advice on what to do would not suffice for farmers. What they required was the necessary financial assistance, and an assurance of minimum support price (MSP) for the crops they raised, he said.
With respect to the current kharif situation, he said the state government was assessing the condition of crops, conserving available water resources. The government has also directed officials to ensure provision of irrigation water and electricity to protect crops until harvest, he said.
Nageswara Rao, who took part in the ‘Khet Bachao Abhiyan’ video conference chaired by the Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said the ‘save farms’ campaign would be conducted in Telangana from October 22 to November 30.
He made it clear that for farmers to adopt crop diversification, it was crucial to provide a guarantee that their produce would be procured at the MSP. He also urged the Centre to take steps to ensure 100 per cent procurement of all major crops — including maize, jowar, pulses, and oilseeds — at the MSP, as well as remove the 25 per cent procurement cap under the price support scheme.
He said there was an urgent need to provide employment and financial security to agricultural labourers during drought conditions and urged for an increase in fund allocations under the relevant schemes.
