Gadwal: Seed cotton farmers in the Nadigadda region have accused major organizers of refusing to pay more than ₹40 lakh for crops delivered months ago. The issue came to light during a press conference held by the Nadigadda Rights Protection Committee, where District Chairman Gongalla Ranjith Kumar condemned the organizers for “deliberate fraud and harassment”.

According to farmers, main organizers Veeranna Goud, Prabhakar Reddy and Jayavardhan Reddy have withheld payments, claiming that the sub-organizer who brought the farmers to them owes them money, and therefore farmers’ crop payments were “adjusted” against those debts. Farmers described this as illegal and said they were never informed of any such financial disputes.

Ranjith Kumar said organizers had previously visited farms, inspected crops, and assured farmers of timely purchase and payment. But after receiving and recording the produce at their mills, the organizers allegedly backed out, leaving farmers in serious financial distress.

The Rights Protection Committee criticized district officials for failing to control organizer fraud and seed-mafia activities. Ranjith Kumar announced that the committee will soon launch a large-scale agitation and pursue legal action against the organizers responsible.

Leaders including Bucchibabu, Lavanna, Vishnu, Balaram Naidu, Madhu, Roshanna, and Lakshmanna participated in the press meet and demanded immediate payment to all affected farmers.