Vijayawada: Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan had backed the struggle of the chilli growers in the two Telugu States. In a press statement, Pawan Kalyan expressed concern over the steep fall in the prices of chillies from Rs 13,500 a quintal in the last season. He blamed the two Telugu State governments for ignoring the woes of the farmers. He wanted the governments to focus on the farming sectors and protect their interests. He said that the governments were more concerned about mobilising investments from the foreign corporate companies than the problems of the people.

Pawan Kalyan held the agriculture and marketing departments responsible for the crisis. He said that the agriculture department had totally failed to advice the farmers on the extent to be cultivated and the marketing department for ignoring to ensure remunerative prices. He wanted the two departments to work together with the farmers to prevent recurrence of this situation.

Stating that the market price for the chillies in the previous season was Rs 13,500 a quintal, he asked the government to ensure payment of at least Rs 11,000 a quintal this time and help the farmers.