Rajahmundry:
While CM Chandrababu has announced initiation of Kharif season’s cultivation
with his ploughing the land through Eruvaka programme, farmers of the same
Konaseema area have assembled and decided they cannot continue cultivation anymore
and will declare ‘crop holiday’. They have come to this decision as they do not
believe they can get their expenditure back, leave alone profits. They have
decided to leave their lands barren. It is saddening to see the blow taken by
the farmers due to Chandrababu’s rule.
Expenditure is the main need
of farmers
Farmers mainly need expenditure.
Previously, they used to take loans from banks and cultivate crops. Loans below
Rs.1 lakh were granted without interest and loans from Rs.1-3 lakh were granted
with 0.25% interest to farmers. But believing in Babu’s false promises about
waiver of loans, farmers stopped to pay interests on their loans, giving rise
to penalty charges from 14-18%. Lakhs of farmers were marked as defaulters of
banks. This has blocked way for sanction of new loans from banks. Due to Call
Money scam, private small-scale moneylenders were harassed by the police. So
that door also has been closed for the farmers. Farmers are now left with only
large scale lenders give loans for huge rates of interest.
Problems of irrigation
In Godavari districts, particularly
Konaseema, agriculture is dependent on canals. But Chandrababu’s Government has
started diverting Godavari waters in the name of Pattiseema, severely reducing
the amount of water available downstream. There is no system available for announcement
of time of water flow. Canal repair work also has not been happening since 2-3
years. All these factors together are inhibiting the availability of water to
the croplands. Repeated pleas to the Government regarding this issue have gone
unnoticed.
Fear of losses
Agriculture has become a fearsome issue
to the farmers. Even after cultivating after all these difficulties, there is
no chance of getting proper income for the crops. Hence, farmers have decided
to stay away from cultivation. Farmers deciding to stay hungry rather than to
perform agriculture is clearly showing the negligence of the Government.
Increased expenditure, lack of proper
income, overflow of waste water canals with rains and inflow of salt water into
the croplands near coastal areas have troubled the farmers of Konaseema areas
so much that they have decided to declare crop holiday. Particularly, farmers
of Katrenikona, Uppalaguptam, Allavaram, Malikipuram, Sakinetipalli and other
areas, which are actually supposed to be flourishing with 2-3 crops a year,
have come to this decision.
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