The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) staged protests in cotton growing areas across the State on Tuesday in support of farmers facing hardships and demanding that the Central and State governments lift restrictions on cotton procurement, such as the limit of accepting only seven quintals of cotton per acre and moisture content up to 12%.
Working president of the party K.T. Rama Rao visited Adilabad, while senior leader T. Harish Rao visited Warangal (Enumamula) and Mahabubabad markets to interact with farmers. Other senior leaders of the party too visited cotton procurement centres and staged protests there in support of the farmers’ demands. Before reaching Adilabad market yard, Mr. Rama Rao along with Boath MLA Anil Jadhav and other leaders of the party went to a ginning mill at Neradigonda, where they visited cotton, soybean and maize procurement centres. He told the farmers not to get disheartened as the BRS would be on their side all through.
During the visit to Adilabad Market Yard, Mr. Rama Rao interacted with several farmers, who expressed deep distress over the ongoing procurement crisis. They alleged that both the Central and State governments have completely ignored their pleas and failed to provide any support.
After meeting the farmers, Mr. Rama Rao asked: “If there is no problem for farmers, why is the Adilabad market yard shut today? Why did the government obstruct our visit to meet farmers?”. On the Kisan Kapas mobile app, he pointed out that many farmers do not own smartphones and several areas in Adilabad still lack proper mobile network connectivity. He highlighted that unseasonal rains and extreme cold had increased the moisture content in cotton and recalled that in the previous BRS government, cotton with 20–22% moisture was procured after mounting pressure on the Centre. “But today, they refuse to buy even at 12% moisture,” he said and added that restrictions on per acre quantity and moisture content had allowed procurement of only one-lakh quintals of cotton so far.
The fertile lands of Adilabad would give a yield up to 15 quintals per acre, while only 7 quintals per acre was being procured from farmers. Where should the farmers sell their remaining produce, he sought to know. On the other hand, Mr. Harish Rao visited Enumamula, Kesamudram and Mahabubabad market yards. Speaking during his visit, he criticised the Central and State governments for introducing grading of ginning mills from L1 to L12 based on their bids and reducing the per acre procurement of cotton coupled with moisture content norm. The restrictions were forcing the farmers to sell their produce at ₹6,000 or less per quintal to private traders against the minimum support price of ₹8,100 per quintal.
