Farmer leaders representing Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh have formed an independent forum to help paddy growers across the country.
The All India Paddy Growers Forum, which was formed here on Tuesday, would take up issues concerning paddy growers in the country. It would fight for minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,000 a quintal from the coming season. To have a common MSP, the forum would hold conventions to unite farmers and mount pressure on the government.
Bharathiya Kisan Sangh, Andhra Pradesh, general secretary, Y Surya Narayana, said the forum would also press for the state governments to procure paddy and conduct auctions through the respective market yards, as was being done in the case of commercial crops like cotton, chillies and turmeric. States such as Haryana and Punjab are already implementing the system by conducting auctions at market yards. This would keep a check on the traders and millers, he said, adding state governments should procure paddy from farmers and sell it to millers and traders.
Surya Narayana said farmers were investing over Rs 1,678 to produce a quintal paddy due to the increased input and labour cost. Unless the government pays MSP of Rs 2,000, farmers would not be able to grow paddy in the coming years.
Besides, the forum asked the government to give permission to paddy growers to take up direct export to other countries. It also sought lifting of restrictions on paddy transport in the country to help farmers transport their produce to any market in the country.
The forum would hold a national level protest of paddy growers at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in October.