Row over Telangana govt decision to stop Rabi paddy cultivation

Though the government has not issued an official order banning the cultivation of paddy this season, it has directed the district collectors to see those seed companies do not sell paddy seeds to farmers at any cost, on the pretext of the problem of plenty.

The Telangana government’s decision to impose an indirect ban on the cultivation of paddy by farmers in the state during the ongoing Rabi season has triggered a major controversy.

In the last Rabi season, the state government had procured 9.2 million tonnes of paddy, and this Kharif, another 5.5 million tonnes of paddy is being procured. (Bloomberg/Representative use)

Though the government has not issued an official order banning the cultivation of paddy this season, it has directed the district collectors to see those seed companies do not sell paddy seeds to farmers at any cost, on the pretext of the problem of plenty. The seed company dealers were asked to procure and stock adequate quantities of seed for alternative crops like pulses and oilseeds such as groundnut, green gram, black gram, Bengal gram, caster, bajra and sesamum but not paddy.

At a review meeting held on September 12, the officials of the agriculture department told chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao that it was not advisable to encourage paddy cultivation because of the Central government’s decision not to purchase even a single kg of rice variety being produced in Telangana.

The officials said the state produces a huge quantity of boiled rice. In the last Rabi season, the state government had procured 9.2 million tonnes of paddy, and this Kharif, another 5.5 million tonnes of paddy is being procured. Added to this, there are buffer stocks of another 7 million tonnes of paddy.

However, the Centre has made it clear that it won’t be able to procure even a single kg of paddy, more than the prescribed quantity of 6 million tonnes through the Food Corporation of India, on the pretext of lack of demand in the country. Union civil supplies minister Piyush Goel told a delegation of the state ministers that there were buffer stocks with the Centre sufficient for the next five years.

Following a direction from the state government, district collectors have been holding meetings with seed dealers for the last few days and asking them not to sell paddy seeds to farmers this season and encouraging them to go in for alternative crops.

At one such meeting held in Siddipet on Monday, collector P Venkatrama Reddy warned the seed dealers against selling paddy seeds lest they would face criminal action. In a video of the meeting, which went viral on social media, the collector was heard saying that if any dealer was found selling even a single kilogram of paddy seed, his shop would be closed and licence suspended.

“Even if you get orders from Supreme Court or high court, I don’t care. As long as I am a collector, I won’t allow you. The agriculture officer concerned will also be suspended,” he threatened.

The collector’s remarks triggered loud protests from farmers’ organisations and opposition parties. Though Reddy later clarified that his warning was concerning the sale of spurious seeds, the protests have not subsided.

Telangana Rythu Sangham on Thursday demanded stringent action against the Siddipet collector for threatening the seed dealers and bringing pressure on farmers not to raise paddy crops.

“For the last three years, there has been a steep increase in the groundwater levels due to heavy rains. There is plenty of water in all the reservoirs, irrigation tanks and ponds. It is not possible to grow dry crops in such water-logged fields. Even if they grow, the yield won’t be good. Since there is no support price mechanism for such crops, the farmers won’t get remunerative prices,” Sangham general secretary T Sagar said.

However, state agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy said there was no option for the farmers, but to grow alternative crops. “If the opposition leaders have any love towards farmers, they should bring pressure on the Centre to purchase more paddy from the state,” he said while challenging the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party at the Centre.

BJP state unit president and MP Bandi Sanjay took up a four-hour Deeksha in the state party office on Thursday in protest against the state government’s decision. He threatened to file a criminal case against Siddipet collector for saying that he would defy even the court orders on paddy cultivation.

Senior Congress leader and former PCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy said it was shameful of the chief minister to ask the farmers not to raise paddy. “He claimed that he would make Telangana the rice bowl of India, but now, he says his government won’t purchase paddy. He cannot take decisions overnight, instead of having foresight,” he said.