Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the BJP government has made agriculture an unprofitable proposition. Slamming the central government for offering low prices to farmers for their agricultural produce, Akhilesh said in a statement, "Will farmers even think of sowing the next crop after suffering losses?
Potatoes will topple the government this time. The BJP government that had enticed farmers by promising to double their income, will face defeat in 2024 because of potatoes."
He claimed farmers were being exploited because of the anti-farmer policies of the BJP government. "Distressed potato farmers, on Holi, were seen struggling in queues outside cold storages, but the chief minister is oblivious to the situation.
Potato farmers are getting lower prices for their produce even as the input cost has risen," he said. Akhilesh said the SP had been demanding MSP for crops, but the BJP government, instead of protecting farmers, had turned patrons into capitalists.
"Instead of buying potatoes on MSP, the government has offered to buy them for Rs 650 per quintal (under the Market Intervention Scheme-MIS)," he stated.
He further said, "Considering the rent for hiring a tractor trolley to ferry potatoes, inputs costs that include irrigation, fertiliser, insecticide, pesticide, store charge and labour, the purchase price should be fixed for at least Rs 1500 per quintal."
"The government has wreaked havoc on potato farmers. Potato farmers are getting low prices for their crop while input cost is increasing. Farmers are living in despair," Yadav said.
"There is chaos at purchasing centres of paddy and wheat. Multinational companies are buying crops at low prices. Farmers are selling under compulsion," said the SP chief.
He said there was a bumper yield of potatoes in Barabanki but the farmer was neither getting reasonable price nor proper arrangement for storing potatoes.