Jagan Mohan Reddy betraying groundnut farmers of Seema: TDP

Mangalagiri: Former minister and TDP leader Kalava Srinivasulu on Tuesday held the Jagan Mohan Reddy government responsible for the fall of groundnut crop coverage by over 2.5 lakh acre in Rayalaseema region this year.

He said that the farmers were losing confidence in cultivation in view of the lack of any support from the YSRCP regime. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy promised in the Assembly in 2019 that he would compensate for Rs 2,000 crore crop losses in kharif but not a single rupee was paid till now. Even now, groundnut crop in over 15 lakh acre was drying up all over Seema districts due to lack of timely rains. Neither Chief Minister nor any minister was trying to help the farmers, he said.

Addressing a press conference here, Srinivasulu said that not a single official or even volunteers were trying to tell the government about the woes of groundnut farmers. In Anantapur district alone, groundnut was grown in nearly 11 lakh to 12 lakh acre this year. The crop was good in the beginning but lack of rains towards the end of season had damaged the crop. The farmers were in a very pitiable condition. Last year, they cultivated in 12.26 lakh acre and suffered a loss of Rs 3,000 crore. The government did not release even Rs 300 crore.

The TDP leader asked what the Chief Minister could do for the farmers of the whole AP when he could not rescue even the farmers of his own Rayalaseema region. For the last one-and-a-half months, there have been no rains in Seema. Consequently, the groundnut crop in 15 lakh acre was drying up. It was high time that either the Chief Minister or his agriculture minister visited the damaged crops. Agriculture minister K Kannababu was speaking on all subjects except his department, he said adding Jagan had no right to continue as chief minister if he did not rescue Seema farmers this year.

He claimed that around 17 groundnut farmers died so far due to losses and debts. The Chief Minister should address the problem of crop losses and dues towards input subsidies and assistance for drip and sprinkler irrigation should be provided, he demanded.