Hundreds of farmers under the aegis of the Wayanad Samrakshana Samithi took out separate marches and staged dharnas in front of Krishi Bhavans in the district, raising a slew of demands, including an end to the discrimination meted out to farmers in the district in fixing the minimum support price (MSP) for the “nendran” variety of plantain.
Speaking after inaugurating a district level dharna at Pulpally on Wednesday, P.M. Joy, general convenor of the organisation, said that when the government had fixed the minimum support price (MSP) for 16 varieties of vegetable produce all over the State, it had discriminated against the farmers in Wayanad in fixing the MSP for “nendran”.
While the MSP for 1 kg of nendran was fixed at ₹30 a kg in the 13 other districts of the State, the government had fixed only ₹24 a kg for it in Wayanad, a major nendran cultivating area in the State, Mr. Joy said.
Such a discrimination was unscientific as there was no Wayanadan variety of plantain.
Thousands of farmers were engaged in plantain cultivation after the massive destruction of cash crops such as pepper and ginger owing to various diseases.
Falling prices
Moreover, it would put the farmers in a tight spot at a time when the price of the commodity would decline drastically in the market, he said.
Hence, the government should fix a common MSP for the produce in the entire State, he said.
The farmers staged dharnas in front of all the 25 Krishi Bhavans in the district. The protesters also demanded steps to ensure safety for their lives and property from wildlife attack. They urged the government to declare wild animal which raid crops as vermin.
