Paddy growers in Nellore at their wits’ end

They are under stress due to crop damage caused by Cyclone Asani and delayed payments for paddy produced from them

There has been no end to the woes of paddy growers in SPSR Nellore district as the Asani-induced rains had not only damaged just harvested paddy but also submerged seedlings raised by them for growing the summer crop ''Edagaru''.

Pouring out their woes, a group of farmers in Jaladanki village near here say they raised the rabi crop much against odds as floods in November had forced them to raise paddy seedlings a couple of times again incurring additional costs. As a result, the harvesting of paddy went on till May when they are supposed to raise a new crop with major reservoirs in the Penna delta, including Somasila, having comfortable water levels.

Fifty-year-old P. Bhaskar Reddy, who grew paddy in five acres of leased land, rues his fate now as his hopes of getting decent returns remain shattered. So is the case with hundreds of farmers in the mandal who have been struggling to get even the minimum support price announced by the State government, leave alone a remunerative price for their produce.

A majority of the paddy growers, including tenant farmers sold their produce in the open market at a price much below the MSP without going to the Rythu Bharosa Kendras set up by the State government for doing e-crop booking.

Farmers could not take up cultivation in time in several mandals in the Penna delta, including Sangam, Buchireddypalem, Kovur, Kodavaluru, Vidavalur, Dagadarthi and Allur this year due to heavy rains and floods in November.

“A majority of the farmers were forced to sell their paddy between ₹11,000 and ₹13,000 per putti against the MSP of ₹16,660,” CPI-led Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangam district president Kishore Babu complains in a conversation with The Hindu.