Hyderabad, August 10: Opposing the idea to introduce cooperative farming in the State, the Bharatiya Janata Party State committee has said that such a move would push farmers into a crisis.
The government has mooted the proposal only to divert the attention of the people from other pressing problems, it has felt.
The party has formed a committee to study the issue. Mentioning the findings of the committee in a press note here today, its convener SP Venkateswara Choudary said cooperative farming would take away land rights from farmers and turn them into labourers. After losing ownership of land, the farmers might also lose interest in farm work. Further, salaries of employees would become an additional burden.
Instead, the government should encourage farmers by giving them quality seeds, pesticides, fertilisers and loans to achieve a higher yield besides announcing a better MSP.
It was not correct to say farmers were not in a position to go for mechanisation. They would definitely use latest machinery for farming if prices were reduced by cutting down taxes and duties. The government should also make them aware of the advanced technology
, Choudary said.
Thirty-three percent of land was in the hands of small farmers. The yield too was high in small holdings compared to larger ones, he said and cited the failure of prawn farming by corporates.
Party leaders Ch Ramachandra Reddy, D Koteswara Rao, P Sugunakara Rao, K Bojjaih, G Shouri and PVV Gopala Raju were the members in the committee.
–Agencies–