Ongole: Farmers bodies oppose Donald Trump tour

Ongole: The members of various farmers associations and allied organisations held a protest demonstration in front of the district Collectorate against the tour of American President Donald Trump to India, on Monday. They expressed concern over the damage to the livelihood of farmers due to the alleged pacts to be made between the USA and India, in this tour.

V Hanumareddy, the Andhra Pradesh Raithu Sangham district secretary said that the Indian government was going to agree for the demands of the USA to import and reduce the import taxes on the chicken legs, dairy products, oil and gas products, and motorcycles. He said that the import of poultry and dairy products into India would damage the business of the local farmers and force the already suffering farmers into losses. He demanded the union government to not accept any agreements against the interest of the local farmers.

Ch Sudhakar Rao, state vice president of the Organization for the Protection of Democratic Rights said that if the union government accepts the pact about the dairy and poultry products with the USA, it will not only force the respective farmers into losses, but also damage the feed and fodder producers along with the millet farmers.

P Hanumantha Rao, AP Kaulu Raithu Sangham district president said that the maintenance of poultry and dairy farms in India involves huge investment, where like the USA, New Zealand, Brazil, China, and other countries are offering subsidies to reduce the burden on their farmers.