Farmers stage protest at RBK centre

Duvva (West Godavari District): Hundreds of farmers staged protest at Duvva village, Tanuku mandal, on Friday as their data was not uploaded online in RBK centres. They were highly agitated as the government hasn't yet taken up paddy procurement. They wondered why the government has failed to upload the data online and questioned the government why it is negligent towards them.

The farmers demanded free supply of gunny bags. They criticised that the agriculture officials are not paying attention to their problems. Traffic came to a halt on national highway due to the protest. Farmers raised slogans against the government resulting in a verbal war between police and farmers.

Speaking with The Hans India, District Agriculture Officer (DAO) Z Venkateswara Rao said that in Kharif season paddy was cultivated in more than 80,000 hectares in the district and they expected paddy production of five lakh metric tonnes. He said that owing to technical snag, farmers' data couldn't be uploaded online.

Assuring the farmers that their problem will be solved in two or three days, he asked them not to be agitated over uploading of their data. He also assured them that procurement of the paddy would be done through RBK centres very soon and advised them not to be worried.

The DAO stated that 30 per cent of paddy has been harvested in the district. He assured them that gunny bags are available and would be supplied to them.

He attributed the agitation of the farmers mainly due to the middlemen and they were misled and confused. But the government is going to solve their problem in a short period, he stated.

DAO Venkateswara Rao said that the government is providing minimum support price of Rs 2,060 per quintal for Grade A and Rs 2,040 for common variety. Within 21 days, the money would be deposited in the accounts of farmers, he assured.