Devarapalli, Aug 5: Former Chief Minister and YSRCP President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy demanded that the coalition government immediately bring MARKFED into tobacco procurement to protect farmers from distress sales and break the syndicate of traders manipulating prices.
Speaking to the media after interacting with tobacco farmers at Devarapalli on Wednesday, YS Jagan said farmers are in deep distress as cultivation costs have risen sharply while procurement prices are falling due to the cartelisation of companies and traders. He said the Tobacco Board had encouraged farmers to cultivate tobacco by assuring procurement, but later failed to stand by them, leaving farmers at the mercy of traders.
YS Jagan said the Chandrababu government is hand in glove with the syndicate and only about 20 percent of the crop has been procured so far. Though the Board had assured procurement, traders formed a cartel and deliberately kept prices low, forcing farmers into distress sales.
He said that during the YSRCP government in 2023–24, the average price of tobacco was Rs 289 per kg, but after 27 months of coalition rule, it has fallen to around Rs 220 per kg, with farmers saying they are being forced to sell even at Rs 170 per kg. Farmers are now losing at least Rs 70 per kg, he said.
YS Jagan said the YSRCP government had created a strong mechanism to safeguard farmers by making MARKFED a buyer, thereby creating competition and preventing traders from dictating prices. The YSRCP government had also provided Rs 1 lakh zero-interest loans to farmers. Chandrababu has done away with the zero-interest loan system, further worsening the condition of farmers already hit by rising cultivation costs and falling prices.
Referring to the death of tobacco farmer Venkateswara Rao, YS Jagan said the farmer died by suicide after being unable to bear the losses, but the government has shown no response and no public representative even visited the family to console them.
He warned that within a month, buyers may shift to Karnataka for auctions, which would further depress prices in Andhra Pradesh and push farmers into deeper distress. He said the Rs 20 subsidy announced by the government would only help traders reduce prices further instead of truly benefiting farmers.
YS Jagan demanded that the government immediately bring MARKFED into procurement and create competition in the market. If this is not done, farmers will suffer even more, he said.
He said that in the 27 months since the coalition government came to power, farmers are not getting MSP for any crop, whether paddy, banana, tobacco, pulses or others. All sections of people are expressing anger, he said, adding that education, health, agriculture and every sector have been affected under Chandrababu’s governance. Anyone questioning the government is being targeted with false cases and arrests.
YS Jagan said all sections of people are unhappy with the backstabbing party that has deprived them of welfare schemes. During the interaction, farmers told him that they were receiving only Rs 170 per kg, and that the price was increased by Rs 10 only after news spread that YS Jagan was coming. They also said that during the YSRCP government, even low-grade tobacco was procured, but that practice has now been stopped, badly affecting small and marginal farmers.
