Procure Chillies with 50 per cent assistance ;Harish urges Union Agri Min

Hyderabad, April.2: Marketing and Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao today sought Central intervention with regard to procuring chillies from the farmers in Telangana which produced 14 per cent more than last year. In a letter addressed to Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh here, the Minister sought 50 per cent of assistance from the Centre under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) to procure the produce and instill confidence among the farmers to go in for chilli growing in future too. An official committee met on March 31 recommended to procure the chillies at Rs 7000 per quintal directly from the farmers. Against the total chilli production of 698353 metric tons this year, 174588.25 metric tons, that is 10 per cent of the production is proposed under MIS with an estimated cost of Rs 502.59 cr while meeting 50 per cent has central assistance he said.

Harish Rao said that the price being offered is also too less compared to last year which was Rs 10000 per quintal while it is only Rs 5000 to Rs 60000 per quintal this year. He asked the Union Minister to take necessary measures to procure maximum extent of chillies from the market by offering MSP and for price stability.