Telangana Cotton Farmers Suffer

With the Kharif season having dawned upon the state, the ryots are, as usual, running helter-skelter to avail themselves of the crop inputs they are entitled to.

In Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar, cotton farmers took to the streets, protesting against the out-right refusal of traders to sell cotton seeds. Information and Public Relations Minister D K Aruna on Monday found herself encircled by irate agriculturists demanding that the seeds for the Kharif season be distributed.

With the help of the local police, Aruna was able to quieten the angry mob, and is understood to have promised to address the issue.

The farmers charge that they have been frequenting the traders for 20 days in order to purchase the inputs for the Kharif season, and that the traders refuse to sell.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers stocking up on fertilizers are allegedly selling seeds and pesticides at prices much higher than that prescribed by the government.

On the other hand, paddy farmers in the district are facing the brunt of untimely rains - their unshielded heaps of paddy at grain purchase centres are being completely drenched by the rains.

Adding fuel to the fire, it has been reported that farmers are being asked to pay for gunny bags at the grain purchase centres managed by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in the Adilabad district. The enraged farmers conducted a rasto roko protesting against this, and the police watered down their protests by promising to address their grievances.