Tadepalli, September 3: YSR Congress Party President and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has strongly criticized Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for failing the farmers of Andhra Pradesh.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), YS Jagan stated that Chandrababu, who promised “guarantee for the future,” has not even been able to ensure a bag of urea for farmers. For two years in a row, farmers have been forced to stand in queues for days to buy fertilizers.
He further said, “The Chandrababu Naidu-led government promised farmers a secure future, yet two years into its tenure, it has plunged Andhra Pradesh’s agricultural community into despair. Farmers, the backbone of our state, are enduring unprecedented hardships due to acute shortages of essential fertilizers like urea and a catastrophic collapse in crop prices. This administration’s gross mismanagement and apathy have left rural families struggling to survive, betraying the very people it vowed to uplift.”
Farmers are compelled to stand in queues for days to secure a single bag of urea, a crisis unimaginable during our five-year governance, when such shortages were nonexistent. Despite routine annual planning for crop cultivation and fertilizer distribution, the government has failed to ensure adequate supply. Worse, credible reports suggest ruling party leaders are diverting subsidized fertilizers, enabling private traders to sell urea at exorbitant rates, Rs. 267 per bag, inflated by an additional Rs. 200 in the black market. No inspections are conducted, and no culprits face action. The distribution through Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) and Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) is woefully inadequate, a stark contrast to our administration’s record of supplying 12 lakh tonnes of fertilizers directly to farmers through RBKs and providing urea at Rs. 50 below market rates via PACS. “The government’s inaction is not just negligence; it’s a betrayal of every farmer queuing for their livelihood,” he said.
Compounding this crisis, crop prices have plummeted, pushing farmers into financial ruin. Prices for paddy, chilies, cotton, jowar, red gram, black gram, green gram, maize, millets, ragi, banana, sugarcane, cocoa, and tobacco have crashed. Onion farmers, for instance, receive a meager Rs. 400-500 per quintal, while retail markets sell onions at over Rs. 35 per kg. During our tenure, onions fetched Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 12,000 per quintal, ensuring farmers earned Rs. 40 to Rs. 120 per kg. Sugarcane prices have dwindled to Rs. 6,000-12,000 per tonne under this regime, compared to Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 1 lakh per tonne during our governance. Even during the COVID-19 crisis, our administration procured surplus sugarcane and arranged special trains to support farmers. Today, with farmers driven to despair and even suicide, the government remains unmoved. “Chandrababu Naidu’s silence as farmers suffer is deafening.
Our administration’s legacy of farmer-centric policies stands in stark contrast. We established a Rs. 7,802 crore Price Stabilization Fund, procured 9,025 tonnes of onions to ensure fair prices, and maintained real-time agricultural data through the CMAPP system. We empowered RBKs, provided free crop insurance, input subsidies, and crop loss compensation within the same season, and offered zero-interest loans. The current government has dismantled these systems, scrapped the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme’s promised Rs. 20,000 annual aid, delivering only Rs. 5,000 to farmers and excluding 7 lakh families entirely. Allegations of profiting from black-market commissions further taint this administration’s record.
We demand immediate action: restore fertilizer supply chains, enforce strict measures against black-market profiteering, ensure fair crop prices, and revive farmer welfare schemes. The government’s failures have turned “Babu Surety” into a guarantee of deception. Andhra Pradesh’s farmers deserve better, they deserve a government that fights for them.
*YS Jagan to hold state-level meeting with YSRCP Leaders tomorrow*
