Amaravati, Sep 3 (IANS) YSR Congress Party President and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday strongly criticised Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for what he called betraying the farmers of Andhra Pradesh.

YS Jagan stated that Chandrababu, who promised “a guarantee for the future,” has not even been able to ensure a bag of urea for farmers. For two years in a row, farmers have been forced to stand in queues for days to buy fertilisers, he said in a post on X.

“The Chandrababu Naidu-led government promised farmers a secure future, yet two years into its tenure, it has plunged Andhra Pradesh’s agricultural community into despair. Farmers, the backbone of our state, are enduring unprecedented hardships due to acute shortages of essential fertilisers like urea and a catastrophic collapse in crop prices. This administration’s gross mismanagement and apathy have left rural families struggling to survive, betraying the very people it vowed to uplift,” said the YSRCP president.

Farmers are compelled to stand in queues for days to secure a single bag of urea, a crisis unimaginable during our five-year governance, when such shortages were non-existent. Despite routine annual planning for crop cultivation and fertiliser distribution, the government has failed to ensure adequate supply, he added.

The former Chief Minister cited ‘credible reports’ which suggest ruling party leaders are diverting subsidised fertilisers, enabling private traders to sell urea at exorbitant rates, Rs 267 per bag, inflated by an additional Rs 200 in the black market.

“No inspections are conducted, and no culprits face action. The distribution through Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) and Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) is woefully inadequate, a stark contrast to our administration’s record of supplying 12 lakh tonnes of fertilisers directly to farmers through RBKs and providing urea at Rs 50 below market rates via PACS. The government’s inaction is not just negligence; it’s a betrayal of every farmer queuing for their livelihood,” he said.

Compounding this crisis, crop prices have plummeted, pushing farmers into financial ruin. Prices for paddy, chillies, cotton, jowar, red gram, black gram, green gram, maize, millets, ragi, banana, sugarcane, cocoa, and tobacco have crashed. Onion farmers, for instance, receive a meagre Rs 400-500 per quintal, while retail markets sell onions at over Rs 35 per kg. During our tenure, onions fetched Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000 per quintal, ensuring farmers earned Rs 40 to Rs 120 per kg, YS Jagan said.

“Sugarcane prices have dwindled to Rs 6,000-12,000 per tonne under this regime, compared to Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh per tonne during our governance. Even during the COVID-19 crisis, our administration procured surplus sugarcane and arranged special trains to support farmers. Today, with farmers driven to despair and even suicide, the government remains unmoved. Chandrababu Naidu’s silence as farmers suffer is deafening,” he added.

–IANS

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