Telangana govt to purchase corn at MSP of Rs 1,850 per quintal

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 23 (ANI): Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday announced that corn would be purchased at the Minimum Support Price of Rs 1,850 per quintal through the purchasing centres created for paddy in the villages.
CM Rao was upset that though the government had asked the farmers not to cultivate maize in the rainy season yet some farmers cultivated the crop. He said that some farmers cultivated maize against the government's advice and as such the government had no responsibility to buy the corn. But yet, with the sole intention that farmers should not be put to loss, the government has decided to bear the loss and purchase the corn from farmers at MSP, he added.
"During last summer, the government through Markfed purchased nine lakh tonnes of corn and spent Rs 1,668 crore. Since the Corn purchased did not get any price in the open market it was auctioned. The open auction of Corn got only Rs 823 crore. As a result, Markfed incurred Rs 845 crore losses," he explained.
"Markfed purchased corn at Rs 1760 per quintal. With Procurement and transportation costs, the cost was Rs 2000 per quintal. But in the auction, Markfed got only Rs 1150 per quintal. It incurred a loss of Rs 850 per quintal. Since there is no market for corn all over the country, it has to be sold at a lower price," he added.
The state government suggested maize could be cultivated as multiple crop along with turmeric in Nizamabad, Nirmal, Jagtial, Mahabubabad and other districts.
"The government has brought in Regulatory Farming Policy only to get a good price for the agriculture produce. Farmers also through this policy have shown their awareness. They should also show such maturity in maize cultivation. In fact, it was due to the wrong policy of the BJP government at the Centre, the local corn lost its price in the market," CM Rao said.
"The Centre has reduced the import duty on corn from 50 per cent to 15 per cent. This has directly led to a steep fall in the price of corn. Leaders of the party, which was responsible for the fall in corn price, are playing cheap politics here. Farmers should be aware of this. They should not listen to those creating problems for the political gains," the CM advised. (ANI)