YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MLC Lella Appireddy on Wednesday alleged that farmers were facing severe distress under the NDA rule.
Speaking to the media at the party office in Tadepalli, he said the situation of farmers worsened since the alliance came to power. Mr. Appireddy accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of neglecting the agriculture sector, stating that farmers were struggling due to lack of remunerative prices for crops such as maize and Bengal gram.
Highlighting the rabi crisis, he said maize cultivated in over 5 lakh hectares had an MSP of ₹2,400, but farmers were forced to sell at ₹1,500–₹1,800, leading to losses. Similarly, Bengal gram farmers were selling below the MSP of ₹5,875. He added that farmers cultivating chilli, cotton, tobacco, mango, onion, and banana weer also not receiving fair prices.
During the YSRCP term, he said even during the COVID-19 crisis, crops were procured through MARKFED, ensuring farmer support from “seed to sale.”
He alleged that while Ministers spend public money on foreign tours and training programmes, farmers were left at the mercy of middlemen.
