Telangana govt to purchase toor dal from farmers

Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy on Monday urged farmers not to worry about their produce and said that the State government would purchase toor dal at minimum support price (MSP) as per directions of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. He said the Central government was not responding to the pleas of Telangana to support the State in purchasing toor dal at remunerative price for farmers.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Monday, Niranjan Reddy said despite an additional burden of Rs 200 crore on the State treasury, the Chief Minister directed the officials to purchase toor dal from farmers at MSP. 

“This is a farmer-friendly government. Due to farmer-friendly initiatives of Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao, Kharif season witnessed farm operations in about 1.22 crore acres in the State. Considering the bountiful crop, the State government decided to purchase paddy,



cotton and toor dal to ensure that farmers do not suffer losses,” he said.

The Agriculture Minister said though the State government requested the Centre’s support for purchase of entire crop of toor dal at MSP, the latter issued permission to purchase only 47,500 tonnes at a price of Rs 5,800 per quintal. He alleged that the Central government which was promising to double farmers’ income by 2022, was not putting its words into action. He pointed out that th Union government failed to promote exports for turmeric. He directed the officials to increase surveillance along the State borders and prevent transportation of toor dal from neighbouring States for sale in the State markets.

MLA B Harshavardhan Reddy, Marketing director Laxmi Bai, Telangana State MarkFed managing director Bhaskara Chary and others, were present.