‘Telangana is only State where ryots have no crop insurance cover’

Telangana is the only State in the country where farmers are being denied any type of crop insurance scheme, retired IAS officer and convenor of Social Democratic Forum (SDF) A. Murali said. He demanded the government to implement at least the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

Speaking at a meeting held here on Sunday on the way forward for the development of the agriculture sector in Telangana, he said they had prepared a booklet with 14 aspects on the suggested steps for farm sector growth in the State and it was suggested to all political parties to include them in their election manifesto. The SDF would also propose the same to the government (ruling BRS).

Criticising the government for not including tenant farmers in the investment support scheme being implemented by it under the name of Rythu Bandhu, he said it was being extended to well-off landholders, including landlords and even film personalities. By denying Rythu Bandhu to tenant farmers, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao appears to be of the view that those who cultivate lands by taking on lease from landholders were not farmers at all, he felt.

Further, he demanded that a constitutional body such as the Agriculture Commission be set up so that farmers were not deceived by middlemen, cooperative societies and agriculture market committees were strengthened and not misused for political ends. He also demanded the announcement of minimum support price for all crops raised by farmers and the creation of ample storage facilities, including cold storages, so that farmers could keep their produce there till they wanted to dispose it of.

Mr. Murali stated that there were 124 cold storages in the private sector and suggested the government set up at least 1,000 of them on its own to help farmers. On farmer suicides, he said over 7,000 farmers had committed suicide and a section of them due to spurious seeds. He suggested the State government to bring in a comprehensive legislation against trade of spurious seed. Farmers in the State need about 3.2 lakh tonnes of seed every season.