Telangana State Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao decided to meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the unremitting woes of farmers. Realizing the six months of hard work the farmers put in for harvesting the crops, the TRS chief decided to endure the cost of allocation and stand by the farmers.

The state had written a letter to the Union Minister of Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh two months ago on the issue and the problem the farmers are facing, but the central government is yet to take decision on the minimum support price (MSP) for various crops. The chilli prices which sought 12000 rupees per quintal last year, are seeing continues fall to as low as 1000 rupees per quintal.

Explaining the financial situation of farmers, the TRS government wrote a letter about two months requesting execution of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommendations. Due to lack of response, after analysing the reports of the last kharif, KCR recommended raising the minimum support price for major crops grown in Telangana. He even sent the suggestions to central government.

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Telangana has around 140 odd crops grown during Kharif and Yasangi (Rabi). The agricultural sector has been in crisis for quite some time now. The state is providing incentives for farmers to adopt technology, so that they can achieve better results by reducing the cost of cultivation and thereby reducing the losses to certain extent.

The minimum support price changes are within the purview of the central government and it has fixed MSP for only 18 crops in the country.

The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) headed by agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan made several endorsements which includes fixing Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops at levels of “at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production.” These had been listed in the BJP’s 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto and backed by every party in the Opposition including Congress. However, the Swaminathan formula is an illusion.