Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah on Tuesday urged the central government for immediate financial relief to the Karnataka’s Red Chilli farmers now caught in a debt crisis arising out of a double whammy – unsold inventories of last year and current crop yields, leading to a glut in the market and resultant plummeting prices.
The state’s Chilli belt – the Kalyana Karnataka region is one of the most backward and drought-prone areas in the country and is home to thousands of small and marginal farmers. Already, many are pushed into financial distress due to the growing debt crisis they are caught in.
State Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah on Tuesday urged the Centre to come out with urgent help to improve their lot with the kind of help extended to Guntur Chilli farmers of Andhra Pradesh.
In letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister requested the Centre to extend the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme under the Market Intervention Scheme to Karnataka Chilli farmers too, like it did for the Guntur chilli farmers of Andhra Pradesh.
“The continued neglect of their plight will only deepen the economic distress and push many farmers into a debt crisis. It is, therefore, imperative that the Union Government extends the Price Deficiency Payment scheme under the Market Intervention Scheme to Karnataka, ensuring parity with Andhra Pradesh,” Siddaramaiah said and suggested modifications to the existing scheme for serving the farmers better.
A drastic fall in the market prices of Chillies in the country has thrown lakhs of red chilli farmers of Karnataka, from the Kalyana Karnataka region, into a debt crisis.
The Chief Minister said the farmers are forced to sell their produce at distress prices, suffering financial losses that threaten their very survival.
The Chief Minister urged the central government to effect an increase in Minimum Intervention Price (MIP) to 13,500 per quintal – The current MIP of Rs 11,781 per quintal is inadequate considering the rising input costs and the significantly higher cost of production in Karnataka. The government help should be expanded to cover at least 75 per cent of the production, he said, as restricting the coverage to just 25 per cent of the production will leave a large number of farmers unprotected.
Siddaramaiah said that the union government should bear the full burden of the price deficiency payment, even though, as per the existing scheme, the burden is shared in a 50:50 ratio. The prices of red chillies are largely dependent on the Union Government’s domestic and export policies, which directly influence market stability and farmer earnings, the Chief Minister said.
He requested the government to bear the full amount of the price deficiency payment to ensure fair compensation for state farmers, as they also deserve the same level of support that their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh are receiving. “A fair and just intervention by the Union Government at this crucial moment will not only provide immediate relief but will also reaffirm the Centre’s commitment to the welfare of farmers across the country, irrespective of the state they belong to,” the Chief Minister said.