Vijayapura
Stating that nationwide lockdown has caused huge loss to grape farmers, the Association for Farmers’ Agricultural Workers has asked the government to fix ₹250/kg minimum support price for raisins.
In a release, the association said that the district grows best quality raisin which has great demand in Western and Gulf countries and in other States of the country. However, owing to lockdown, the farmers could not sell the commodity and incurred heavy loss.
The members, who took out a rally in support of their demand on Saturday, said that in the absence of proper market and cold storage, the quality of raisins has been adversely affected. Around 75% farmers got affected by the lockdown.
Though the Union government announced a Rs. 20 lakh crore package, it did not mention anything related to grape or raisins. So the farmers are still expecting a specific relief package, the release said.
Several farmers, by paying lots of money, have stored the raisins in private cold storage in different States. They have borrowed money from private lenders to pay cold storage owners. If the government announces ₹250/kg MSP, it will help the farmers to tide over the situation.
They asked the State and Central governments to extend help to the farmers.
