Naidu seeks central support for maize farmers in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has written to Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, seeking immediate intervention to support maize farmers in Andhra Pradesh, including procurement of the crop produced during the rabi season and implementation of a price deficiency payment scheme (PDPS).In the letter, Naidu said maize farmers in the state were anxious as market prices were falling steadily. He pointed out that the current market price of maize ranged between Rs 1,600 and Rs 1,700 per quintal, which was below the minimum support price of Rs 2,400.The chief minister said Andhra Pradesh is expected to record a maize output of about 42.06 lakh metric tonnes this season, with another 14.26 lakh metric tonnes still in the harvesting stage. He expressed concern that farmers would incur losses if the govt did not intervene promptly.Naidu urged the Centre to extend support under the PM-AASHA scheme by directly paying the price difference to maize farmers. He said the absence of Central support for maize procurement would impose a significant financial burden on the state govt.Requesting special consideration for Andhra Pradesh, the CM sought 100% central funding for price deficiency payments and asked for the scheme to be extended till June 2026. He also requested immediate approvals to implement the scheme in coordination with NAFED and AP Markfed to ensure timely relief to farmers.