Kadapa, November 02: Traffic on the busy Kurnool-Chittoor highway was paralysed on Monday following a rasta roko by farmers at Chinnamasupalle demanding minimum support price (MSP) for paddy.
The road blockade, which started at 9 am continued for 90 minutes, resulting in hundreds of vehicles getting stranded on either side of the road.
Speaking on the occasion, Zilla Rytu Sangham president D Chandramouleswar Reddy said reminded that during the last kharif, farmers received Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per quintal of paddy during the last kharif.
But, with political parties raising a hue and cry over increasing prices, the government banned export of paddy resulting in fall in prices. The farmers were unable to even recover their investment, he lamented.
At present rice was being sold somewhere between Rs 900 and Rs 1,000, he said adding that the government which has assured food security has failed to give any assurance to farmers.
Reddy said that 80 per cent of suicides in the country were of farmers. He attributed the extreme step of farmers to unremunerative prices.
He said that it is high time the government announced MSP for paddy to prevent farmer suicides.
Rythu leader Subba Reddy, TDP leaders R Venkatasubba Reddy and Bala Narayana Reddy were also present.
–Agencies