Rs 800-cr market support given to farmers, says AP Minister Atchannaidu

VIJAYAWADA: Agriculture Minister Kinjarapu Atchannaidu on Saturday said the Market Intervention Scheme was meant to protect farmers when the market price of their produce fell below the MSP, and asserted that the coalition government was providing actual financial aid to farmers instead of making budgetary allocations.

He questioned the previous YSRCP government where its market intervention was when farmers faced a crash in crop prices and alleged that there was a wide gap between allocations shown in the budget and the money actually spent for farmers.

The Minister said the State government had spent nearly Rs 800 crore during 2025-26 to support farmers through market intervention. Of this, Rs 271 crore was spent on tobacco, Rs 261 crore on mangoes, Rs 125 crore on onions, Rs 14 crore on cocoa and Rs 12 crore on tomatoes.

He said the government had also provided price support to Totapuri mango and tobacco farmers this year. As mango prices declined, the government compensated farmers by Rs 4/kg. The benefit was extended to farmers in Chittoor, Annamayya, Tirupati and Kadapa districts, covering 7.03 lakh MT of mango production.