Cancel fertiliser price hike; tenant farmers demand

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Tenant Farmers’ Association (APTFA) has strongly condemned the Central government’s decision to increase fertiliser prices, calling it a severe blow to tenant and small farmers, who are already struggling under rising cultivation costs and poor returns.

In a joint statement, Association’s State president Y Radhakrishna and general secretary M Haribabu said that tenant farmers are facing mounting hardships due to multiple challenges such as high input costs, lack of minimum support price (MSP), and limited access to institutional benefits. “At a time when agriculture is becoming unsustainable, the Centre’s move to raise fertiliser prices by up to Rs 100 per 50-kg bag of complex fertilisers is deplorable,” they said.

They pointed out that despite the government’s claim of reducing GST on fertilisers from 18% to 5%, farmers have seen no real benefit, as companies continue to hike prices unchecked.The leaders estimated that the new decision would impose an additional burden of nearly Rs300 crore on Andhra Pradesh’s farming community.

The association criticised the government for failing to regulate public sector fertiliser companies like IFFCO and KRIBHCO, allowing them to increase prices freely. “Telling farmers to reduce fertiliser usage while offering massive concessions to corporate companies shows the government’s neglect towards agriculture and rural livelihoods,” they said.

The Association demanded that the Central government immediately revoke the fertiliser price hike, warning that such policies would further deepen the crisis in the agricultural sector.