The Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers’ Association has alleged that the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has failed to get farmers a remunerative and stable price for agricultural commodities.
Farmers were suffering losses in the range of Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 45,000 an acre owing to the whimsical prices fixed for the commodities. The CACP must be annulled and a new commission comprising agricultural experts and genuine farmers should be formed, the association said.
Kurubur Shanthkumar, president of the association, said that the CACP was largely represented by IAS officers and a few persons who claimed to be farmers. These persons had no knowledge about agricultural activities and without realising the ground reality or conducting field visits, they recommended minimum support price irrationally, he said.
The input subsidy to farmers in drought areas was meagre, he said and demanded that the government give compensation for crop loss in addition to input subsidy for the next agricultural season in drought-hit areas.
The association has written to the government to reconstitute the commission. We will soon chalk out a plan to agitate in front of the residences of Karnataka MPs to pressurise the government to quash the existing commission, he added.
Commission for Agricultural Costs
and Prices is largely represented by
IAS officers and a few persons who claim
to be farmers
Kurubur Shanthkumar,president, Karnataka State Sugarcane Growers’ Association
