Tummala urges Centre to aid in procuring maize, sorghum

Hyderabad: Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao met Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and submitted comprehensive petitions outlining procurement pressures, funding gaps in horticulture programmes, and policy uncertainties affecting Telangana farmers, with a central request to bring maize and sorghum under the Price Support Scheme (PSS). Tummala told the Union minister that Telangana’s Yasangi 2025-26 maize and sorghum season had expanded to about 20.29 lakh acres, with estimated production of 47.23 lakh metric tons, and that favourable weather and higher yields had pushed market prices sharply below the Centre’s MSP.

He cited maize trading around ₹1,800 per quintal against an MSP of ₹2,400, arguing that the widening gap was forcing distress sales and eroding farm incomes. He said the state had already opened 336 procurement centres and procured about 11.45 lakh metric tons of maize, but warned that arrivals and market pressure were increasing. To stabilise prices and protect growers, he requested inclusion of maize and sorghum under PSS and asked that central nodal agencies be permitted to procure around 14.90 lakh metric tons of maize and 2.01 lakh metric tons of sorghum, along with support for storage, transport and logistics.

Alongside the PSS demand, Tummala sought an increase in the sunflower procurement limit from 3,690 metric tons to 15,262 metric tons, stating that acreage and arrivals had risen while market prices remained below the MSP of ₹7,721 per quintal, and that unseasonal rains had added to farmers’ losses in stored produce.