T to procure sorghum crop: Tummala

Hyderabad: The state cabinet sub-committee has made a crucial decision that the govt will purchase not only the maize crop but also the sorghum crop. Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao stated that this decision was made during the sub-committee meeting on Tuesday. He mentioned that this decision, taken with the welfare of the state's farmers in mind, will provide them with significant relief.Despite repeated requests from the state govt to bring maize and sorghum crops under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) for central govt procurement, there has been no response from the Centre, he said.The minister noted that no other state govts in the country are purchasing maize and sorghum crops, and farmers there are selling their produce at prices available in the open market. However, in Telangana, the govt is stepping in to purchase crops with the welfare of farmers in mind.Congress govt has already set up 278 procurement centres during the Yasangi season and collected approximately 5.50 lakh metric tonnes of maize, the minister revealed. He stated that purchases are being made at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to prevent losses to farmers due to unprofitable market prices. He recalled that during the last Kharif season, the state govt purchased about 3.76 lakh metric tonnes of maize, incurring an expenditure of 902.80 crore.With farmers now beginning to bring their sorghum crops to the markets and facing difficulties due to unprofitable prices, the sub-committee decided that the state govt will also purchase the sorghum crop, similar to maize. This decision will provide significant financial assurance to sorghum farmers, he mentioned.The minister mentioned that in this year alone, the state govt has spent nearly 6,000 crore on the procurement of various crops. These measures taken by the govt for farmers' income security are strengthening the rural economy, he noted.