The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Venkaiah Naidu fears food crisis

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 06, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Venkaiah Naidu fears food crisis

Staff Reporter

Urges Centre to provide MSP

‘Cotton farmers resorting to distress sales due to non-availability of MSP’
Farmers stopped cultivating wheat, forcing import of 50 lakhs metric tones

PEDDAPALLI (KARIMNAGAR DT): BJP senior leader and former national president M. Venkaiah Naidu has demanded the Union Government to provide minimum support price of Rs. 1,000 per quintal to paddy or else there would be food crisis in the country because of stoppage of cultivation by farmers.

Participating in the impressive road shows in Ramagundam and Peddapalli towns demanding MSP to the farmers produce on Monday,

Mr. Naidu said that already several farmers have stopped cultivation because of non-availability of MSP to their hard earned produce.

He also said that the farmers’ children were not doing cultivation and switching over to other trades to eke out their livelihood because of hardships in cultivation.

Import

The wheat cultivating farmers have already stopped cultivation forcing the Government to import about 50 lakhs metric tones of wheat, he said.

Food crisis

He feared that another food crisis would hit the country if the Government fails to provide MSP to farmers producing paddy and other produces.

He said that the people of the State would force the State Government and Chief Minister Y. S. Rajashekhara Reddy to conduct ‘inti baata’ (send home) if they failed to provide MSP to farmers.

Sanction projects

He launched a scathing attack against the eight Union Ministers from the State for failing to prevail upon the Centre to ensure MSP to the farmers and sanction other projects. BJP State president Bandaru Dattatreya ridiculed Chief Minister Y. S. Rajashekhara Reddy for claiming that the Congress Government had taken up development of Telangana region by allocating huge funds.

He charged that the Government was sanctioning only lift irrigation schemes to Telangana region. He reminded that the Congress had already bitten the dust during the Karimnagar parliament constituency by-elections when it went to the voters with the slogan of development.

Distress sale

He alleged that the cotton farmers were resorting to distress sales due to non-availability of MSP to cotton and other produce in the district.

In spite of huge production of cotton in the district, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) had failed to interfere and procure the cotton by providing MSP to farmers, he charged.

To intensify movement

He also said that they would further intensify their movement demanding MSP to farmers in Rayalaseema and coastal regions.

BJP district president Prathap Ramakrishna, State vice president G Ramakrishna Reddy, BJP Kisan Morcha State president P. Sugunakar Rao, BJYM national secretary Bandi Sanjay, BJP leaders N. Indrasena Reddy, Janga Reddy and others participated.

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