BRS leader V. Prashanth Reddy speaking on turmeric prices at Nizamabad on Friday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
HYDERABAD
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has alleged that the Centre has deceived the turmeric farmers by establishing the Turmeric Board for the namesake and not evolving any support price mechanism for the spice crop.
Speaking to newspersons at Nizamabad on Friday, former minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy said turmeric farmers were being forced to dispose of their produce at ₹8,000 per quintal as distress sale as the collusion between the market committee, its authorities and traders was leaving a majority of farmers with no other choice.
He stated that farmers used to buy 10 gm of gold with the proceeds of two quintals of turmeric in the past, but now sale of even 12 quintals of turmeric would not get 10 gm of gold. He mentioned that the Congress had promised a minimum support price of ₹12,000 per quintal to the spice crop, but even after pressure from farmers the traders had fixed cut-off price of ₹10,000 per quintal for finger varieties and ₹9,000 for bulb varieties.
However, the farmers were not getting even that price as the traders were purchasing limited quantities at that price and the remaining farmers were being forced to sell off their produce at just ₹8,000 per quintal even after the wait for 2 to 3 days. Mr. Prashanth Reddy stated that it was the situation in the major turmeric market, Nizamabad Gunj, itself.
The BRS leader explained that turmeric commanded a price of ₹18,000 per quintal even when the Board was not established, but it had slumped to ₹10,000 and below after the establishment of the Board.
He demanded that the State government ensure e-auction of turmeric so that the farmers could get better price and bring pressure on the Centre to fix MSP at ₹15,000 per quintal, at least, and open procurement centres as in case of other crops.
Published – February 22, 2025 08:36 am IST
