Crop loss worries farmers, tenants

Amaravati: Land acquisition by the government to distribute house sites to the poor became a cause for concern among several farmers and tenants. Farmers of small holdings are saying that they would losing their livelihood and some tenants are worried over the loss of investment on crop.

For instance, a farmer K Srinivas and a tenant N Raju at Perecharla village in Medikonduru mandal in the district expressed fear that they might lose the investment made on standing crop due to its acquisition. The farmers said that most of the lands being taken by the government are fertile giving high yields every year.

Some tenants said they had invested at least Rs 1 lakh on an acre to grow the chilli crop.

Many of them paid the money in advance to the landlord to cultivate the land. After that they started investing on plantation, labour, pesticides and others.

The villagers also said that at least 300 acre land is being taken to distribute among around 7,000 poor. Though the farmers have been giving the land to the government as it has been offering good amount to them, the tenants would not get any benefit. "Neither government nor the farmer is concerned about the plight of the tenant," lamented S Kiran Kumar, a villager.

He said that even though the government had brought Tenant Act, most of the farmers and tenants were not following it. Due to that issue, the tenant was now fully dependent on the mercy of the farmers, Kiran added.

This is not only the problem of the tenants of this village alone, but could be seen in almost all the villages across the state where the government was taking the agriculture lands for house sites.