BAPATLA: Chief minister K Rosaiah today said it was unfortunate that the farmers were not getting the minimum support price (MSP) for their agricultural produce on par with the industrial products. An industrialist could fix price of his product, but the same was not true for the farmers, he observed.

Addressing Ryutu Sadassu here, he said that the plight of the farmers continued despite the fact that seventy per cent of people in the country depend on the agricultural sector.The prices of agricultural produce were being fixed as per the demand. He said the government should intervene if the farmers were not getting the MSP for their produce.He condemned the attitude of millers in connection with the purchase of Nellore fine variety rice. He urged the FCI to purchase Nellore fine variety rice from the farmers. He said union minister for agriculture Sharad Pawar had already directed the FCI in this regard.

The chief minister said that the government had been taking steps to protect the interests of farmers who were facing financial crisis due to non disposal of paddy in the kharif season.

He said farm loans, fertilisers, seeds and pesticides would be supplied to the farmers.

He said that a second chilli marketyard would be set up at Durgi in Palnadu region. He said Rs 16 crore would be distributed to chilli farmers under the insurance scheme.

Earlier, the chief minister laid a foundation stone for delta drainage scheme and Ongole-Digamarru national highway. He inaugurated the digital library in agricultural engineering college at Bapatla.Union minister of handlooms and textiles Panabaka Lakshmi, ministers Ponnala Lakshmaiah, N Raghuveera Reddy, Kanna Lakshminarayana, D Manikya Varaprasad, M Venkataramana, Pilli Subhaschandra Bose, Gade Venkata Reddy,S Balaraju, deputy speaker Nadendla Manohar and several MPs and MLAs were present.