Bengaluru, Jul 8 (PTI) AICC General Secretary in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala, on Tuesday accused the BJP-led central government of "crushing" tur dal farmers in the state and "collapsing markets" through its Minimum Support Price (MSP) and import policies, which he claimed have caused an annual loss of Rs 1,550 crore.

He alleged that the Modi government was promoting farmers in countries such as Myanmar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Australia, Africa, and Canada, while "denying fair prices" to farmers in Karnataka and the rest of India.

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Karnataka and Maharashtra together account for 50 per cent of India's total tur dal production, and Karnataka's Kalaburagi tur dal has held a Geographical Indication (GI) tag since August 14, 2019, Surjewala told reporters.

"The BJP's stepmotherly treatment of Karnataka's farmers and their internationally recognised produce is a grave injustice, resulting in an annual loss of Rs 1,550 crore to the state's farming community," he claimed.

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In 2024-25, the MSP for tur dal was Rs 7,550 per quintal and was revised to Rs 8,000 for 2025-26. However, Surjewala said farmers in Karnataka were forced to sell their produce at Rs 6,000 per quintal last year, even as the state produced 10 lakh quintals. This shortfall, he said, cost farmers Rs 1,550 crore.

He added that the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), in its 2025-26 report, acknowledged the Karnataka government's representation that the actual cost of production was Rs 11,032 per quintal and that it had sought an MSP of Rs 16,548 per quintal.

Instead, the Centre fixed the MSP at Rs 8,000 per quintal, he added and accused the Modi government of "betraying" Karnataka's farmers, saying, "Even this amount is barely being paid".

Further, Surjewala alleged that the Centre announces MSPs without actually procuring produce at those rates.

Citing data from the Ministry of Agriculture, he said that in 2022–23, Indian farmers produced 276.90 lakh tonnes of pulses, but the government purchased only 1.2 lakh tonnes at MSP, rendering the MSP meaningless.

Highlighting that since May 15, five years ago, the Modi government has been permitting duty-free import of tur dal, the Congress leader said the latest notification, issued on January 20, 2025, extends the duty-free status until March 31, 2026.

"In 2022-23, the Modi government imported 24.9 lakh tonnes of pulses into India. This doubled to 48.4 lakh tonnes in 2023-24, and further rose to 67 lakh tonnes in 2024-25," it said, adding that the Centre was "flooding the market with cheap, low-quality imports" from Myanmar, Tanzania, Mozambique, as well as Australia, Africa, and Canada.

He added that the Centre had signed a long-term MoU with Mozambique, guaranteeing imports of 2 lakh metric tonnes of pulses annually, while failing to procure tur grown in Karnataka.

The duty-free imports, he claimed, were benefiting farmers from other countries while Indian farmers suffered. He termed this "economic sabotage" of farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Alleging that the Union government was allowing large-scale imports of pulses without adequate protection for domestic producers, Surjewala claimed the BJP government had been "consistently increasing imports year after year while ignoring Indian farmers."

Peas (matar/yellow peas, battani) accounted for 21.7 lakh tonnes of imports in 2024-25, making up 45 per cent of all pulse imports. Desi chickpea (chana) imports stood at 15.1 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, double the quantity from the previous year, he said in a statement.

Lentils (bele, masoor) saw imports of 12.2 lakh tonnes despite strong domestic production programmes. Black gram (urad, uddin bele) imports rose to 8.2 lakh tonnes, up from around 5.8 lakh tonnes in earlier years, he added.

"If this is how you treat our farmers, how are they expected to survive?" he asked, taking a dig at Union Ministers from Karnataka—Pralhad Joshi, H D Kumaraswamy, and V Somanna—and questioning what they were doing.

Responding to BJP's Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya's allegation that Karnataka had become an ATM for the Congress high command, Surjewala, without elaborating, said, "Please ask him why he was humiliated in the USA? Why was he insulted so badly, to the point that he not only embarrassed himself but also accepted that insult, bringing shame to the country? He needs to answer that first."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)