Karimnagar farmers in limbo over unpaid Rs 500 paddy bonus

Paddy farmers in the erstwhile Karimnagar district are still awaiting a Rs 62.6 crore bonus for the Yasangi season, even as the Vanakalam harvest begins. Despite high demand for fine variety rice, the delay in bonus payments has left farmers uncertain about future government support.

Karimnagar: Paddy farmers, who sowed fine variety crops in the Yasangi season, are eagerly waiting for the bonus. Though the harvesting of Vanakalam crop has already begun, the government has not paid the previous season’s bonus amount to farmers. About Rs 62.6 crore bonus amount is yet to be paid to farmers from the erstwhile Karimnagar district.

Though there is a huge demand for fine variety rice in the market, a majority of the farmers have traditionally stayed away from fine variety paddy because of various reasons. High investment, lower yield and susceptibility to pest infestation are the main reasons.

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Moreover, it requires high maintenance when compared to the regular variety. However, with the state government’s announcement of a Rs 500 bonus, a considerable number of farmers shifted to fine variety paddy.

Though the highest quantity of fine variety paddy was produced in the district in the Yasangi season, about 1.25 lakh metric tonnes of paddy were sold at paddy purchasing centres established by various government departments.

The highest of quantity 79,345 mt was procured in Peddapalli followed by Karimnagar 32,694, Rajanna-Sircilla 8,786 and Jagtial 4,399 metric tonnes. Though the minimum support price of Rs 2,320 was deposited in farmers’ bank accounts within 15 days, bonus amount has been pending during the last four months.

A total of Rs 62.6 crore including Karimnagar Rs 16.35 crore, Peddapalli Rs 39.67 crore, Rajanna-Sircilla Rs 4.62 crore and Jagtial Rs 2.21 crore remains pending. Without anticipating the pending bonus amount, farmers sowed fine variety extensively in the present Vanakalam season too.

According to a rough estimation, crop has been sown in about 4 lakh acres and 8.4 lakh metric tonnes of yield are expected. So, the farmers who sowed this variety of paddy are in a dilemma about whether the government will pay a bonus.

They want the government to give clarity on providing the bonus of Vanakalam season besides clearing the pending bonus.