The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Support price or not, it’s rice in ‘Metuku Seema’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Support price or not, it’s rice in ‘Metuku Seema’

Staff Reporter

Farmers in Medak prefer growing paddy; 52,000 hectares brought under cultivation of the crop

Sangareddy: Unperturbed by the ongoing controversy on minimum support price for paddy in the State, the farmers in the paddy-growing tracts of Medak, also known as ‘Metuku Seema’ have sowed the traditional cereal in 52,000 hectares of land. The farmers in the Medak division that includes Papannapet and Kolcharam, Sangareddy, Yeldurthy, Toopran and Narsapur have gone for Kharif paddy. The officials in the Agricultural Department have estimated an average yield of 40 to 50 quintals per hectare looking at the good start.

Even though the cost of production per quintal in the mandals that predominantly grow paddy stands at Rs. 320, the farmers are excited with the Rs. 1,000 per quintal deal being promised by the Opposition parties. Yadagiri, a farmer from Kalabgur, said the new MSP would help tenant farmers who generally get to take the husk and nothing else after paying the landlord. The farmers of the village told this reporter that in general none of them ever calculated the exact cost of cultivation, but take up paddy year after year, as it’s a tradition here. At present the farmers are offered Rs. 675 plus Rs. 50 as bonus per quintal for ‘A’ grade paddy and Rs. 645 plus Rs. 50 bonus for the general grade.

Procurement

Meanwhile, district Collector B. Venkatesam announced MSP for all the major crops grown in the district. Arrangements for procurement have been completed.

MSP per quintal for other crops are as follows:

Hybrid maize Rs. 600, Maldandi maize Rs. 620, Corn Rs. 620, Ragi and Bajra Rs. 600, Red Gram Rs. 1500plus Rs. 40 bonus, Green gram Rs. 1700 plus bonus and Black gram Rs. 1700 plus bonus.

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