Farmers’ associations in A.P. plan protest on June 30 over hike in fertilizer, pesticide prices

The Andhra Pradesh Tenant Farmers' Association and the Andhra Pradesh Farmers' Association have demanded an immediate rollback of the recent increase in fertilizer and pesticide prices, alleging that the hikes have significantly raised cultivation costs and pushed farmers into financial distress.

The appeal was made by Andhra Pradesh Tenant Farmers' Association State general secretary P. Jamalaiah, Andhra Pradesh Farmers' Association State vice-president Malneedi Yalamanda Rao, and Tenant Farmers' Association State leader Peyyala Venkateswara Rao, who exhorted farmers to participate in large numbers in a protest scheduled to be held in Vijayawada on June 30.

As part of the campaign, leaders of the farmers' organisations toured several villages in Vijayawada Rural and G. Konduru mandals of NTR district on Friday, holding meetings with farmers to mobilise support for the agitation.

The leaders alleged that the prices of 50 kg bags of complex fertilizers had been increased by ₹300 to ₹700, making cultivation increasingly expensive. According to them, the price of 20-20-0-13 fertilizer has risen from ₹1,550 to ₹2,250 per bag, 16-20-0-13 from ₹1,400 to ₹2,000, and 10-26-26 from ₹1,950 to ₹2,450.

They also claimed that pesticide prices had increased sharply, with the price of Diphtharin rising from ₹3,200 to ₹3,600 per kg, while Imidacloprid had increased from ₹900 to ₹1,200 per litre. Prices of several other pesticides had reportedly gone up by an average of ₹200 per litre, they said.

The farmer leaders criticised the Centre for increasing the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy by only ₹72 per quintal for the 2026-27 marketing season, while, according to them, fertilizer costs had increased by around ₹1,400 per quintal. They argued that rising input costs, coupled with inadequate remunerative prices, were pushing farmers into debt and forcing many into severe financial hardship.

They further alleged that the Central government had failed to implement the Swaminathan Commission's recommendation of fixing MSP at C2+50% for all crops and criticised the Andhra Pradesh government for supporting the Centre's approach.