Farm bodies call for burning of GO today

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rythu Sangham and Telangana Vyavasaya Karmika Sangham on Friday called for burning of a GO of the Union government raising fertilizer prices, at district and mandal centres on April 10.

Leaders of the two organisations said here on Friday that raising of fertilizer prices steeply was deplorable. They cited the price of DPA bag of 50 kg which was increased to Rs 1,900 from Rs 1,200, describing it as a burden that can't be shouldered by farmers. Likewise, they said the price of potash was hiked to Rs 1,000 from Rs 875 and of 28-28-0 fertilisers to Rs 1,700 from Rs 1,350.

According to the leaders, in Telangana farmers use 16 lakh tonnes of fertilizer for a crop. "The price rise of 58 per cent is a burden on farmers." They alleged that "MSP has not been raised; even the decided price is not being implemented". They asserted that farmers would be losers for not being able to get returns on their investments. They slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "increasing two-fold the problems of farmers, after promising to double their income."