Samiti urges government to establish red gram procurement centres

The Zilla Raitha Horata Samiti has urged the State government to immediately establish red gram procurement centres in Kalaburagi district and address pending issues related to crop compensation and insurance claims.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, samiti members Avvanna Myakeri and Basavaraj Ingin welcomed the Centre’s decision to allow procurement of 9.67 lakh tonnes of red gram at minimum support price (MSP) through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF), to help farmers facing low market prices.

Mr. Myakeri said compensation of ₹8,500 to ₹17,000 per hectare under NDRF norms had been announced for crop damage across 3.24 lakh hectares, but the amount has not yet been credited. He urged the Centre to immediately release the compensation.

The samiti also demanded settlement of ₹307 crore in pending crop insurance claims for about 1.2 lakh farmers for 2024–25, and early release of insurance claims for the current season, for which farmers have already paid premiums.

Responding to the issue of sugarcane price, the samiti members accused the State government of going back on its assurance. They said that although a price of ₹3,300 per tonne was announced by the State government following farmers’ protests, sugar factories in Kalaburagi district had earlier agreed to pay ₹3,160 per tonne. However, farmers are now being paid only around ₹3,000 per tonne, which would result in heavy losses. The samiti demanded that the government immediately fix the sugarcane price at ₹3,160 per tonne for the district.