Farmers in Telangana have opposed the state government’s decision to provide a bonus of ₹500 per quintal on minimum support price (MSP) to only seven varieties of paddy sown.
According to the government’s stipulations, farmers must produce the bill of the seed purchased by them to officials while selling their crop at the procurement centres. This will help officials decide whether or not the crop is one among the seven varieties of paddy for which the bonus is to be given.
Farmers contend that it is not possible to get bills from farmers who maintain seeds of their own. Further, such seeds are usable for about five years. About 25 per cent of farmers maintain their own foundation seed, according to an estimate.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Manda Rajamallaiah, a farmer from Gopalpur, said he purchases the best quality paddy seed produced by scientists of the Telangana Agricultural University. This is because though seeds of different companies are available in the market, their quality is not assured.
Like Rajamallaiah, many farmers purchase seeds from the university. After harvesting, they preserve some paddy as seed for the next season. The same seed could also be used for about five years. “It is not possible to get a purchase bill for every season,” Rajamallaiah explained.
To encourage farmers to produce fine variety of paddy, the Telangana government had announced a bonus of ₹500 per quintal on minimum support price for seven varieties of paddy purchased at the procurement centres in the state. They are BPT 5204, RNR 15048, HMT Sona, Jai Sriram, KNM 1638, WGL 44, and KNM 7715.
Further, the size of the grain would be measured using a calliper. The length of grain must be below 6 mm and width below 2 mm. In addition, the length to width ratio must be 2.5 mm.
Farmers maintain that the output of foundation and other fine varieties of seeds that meet these standards must also be given the `500 per quintal bonus. They underlined that most farmers grow only those varieties that have a good demand in the market.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
