Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has blamed the Union Government for the significant increase in fertilizer costs and a faulty mechanism for determining the minimum support price (MSP) for various crops, which has rendered agriculture unprofitable.
He requested that the Union Government keep prices at their present levels and bear any additional expenditures.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, he said that prices for the most commonly used fertilizers, 28.28.0 (nitrogen, phosphorous), and potash, had risen by more than 50% and 100%, respectively, in the previous three months.
"Contrary to the promise of doubling farmers' income, material costs have increased in the previous five years, while farmer incomes have decreased," he stated.
"By rising fertilizer costs, increasing fuel prices, and erroneously determining MSP pricing, the government is not only leading to a rise in the cost of cultivation for farmers but also failing to deliver on the promise of doubling farmers' income," he stated.
Farmers are bearing the burden of bad policies, according to KCR, in both the areas of petrol/diesel price and fertilizer pricing. "These moves are giving farmers tremendous concern since the seven-decade-old fertilizer subsidy scheme under the purview of the Government of India is being amended against the interests of the farming community." The Telangana State Legislature unanimously passed a resolution to combine MGNREGA with agricultural activities so that the expense of labor is shared by governments and farmers. So far, he noted, the Centre has chosen not to reply.
He said that the Centre purposefully excluded essential farm leases and the cost of fixed capital assets when calculating crop costs.
"The idea that the MSP is set at 150 percent of agricultural costs is misleading. Farmers are denied MSP prices and forced to sell their goods at lower prices, rendering agriculture unprofitable," he stated.
