Former chief minister and TDP president, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, on Thursday demanded that immediate relief be provided to the Mandous cyclone affected in the State.

Chandrababu Naidu, in a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary, said that the crop in lakhs of acres got damaged leaving the farmers in a deep crisis. The cyclone affected the farmers in at least eight districts — Anantapur, Kadapa, Annamayya, Nellore, Ongole, Guntur, Krishna and West Godavari — causing heavy loss to them, Naidu said in the letter to the Chief Secretary.

The farmers suffered losses to the tune of thousands of crores, he said, adding that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is also not being paid to the farm products. The State Government has imposed restrictions on purchase of the farm products which had thrown the agricultural sector into a virtual disaster, Naidu said.

Stating that the dues to the farmers for the products sold last year have not been cleared yet, the TDP supremo said that the traders are not paying the MSP claiming that the humidity percentage is more in the grain. The farmers are facing several difficulties drying the products and the State government announced to purchase only 37 metric tonnes of products this year though the expected yield is more than 90 lakh metric tonnes, Mr Chandarbabu said. “This is resulting in heavy losses to the farmers,” he added.

Besides the heavy rains, the shortage of gunny bags too is haunting the farmers, he said and demanded that the necessary number of gunny bags be made available to the farmers immediately. Naidu said that the payment be made immediately after purchase of the farm products and the dues to be cleared soon.