Former Chief Minister YS Jagan, president of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), lambasted the current TDP-led NDA administration for pushing farmers into dire straits. Highlighting the plummeting value of one of the region’s key crops, the former CM pointed to bananas fetching a mere 50 paise per kilogram, less than the cost of a common matchbox, leaving growers reeling from massive financial setbacks.
The remarks, delivered via social media on December 1, highlight a deepening agrarian crisis exacerbated by erratic weather and perceived policy lapses. ‘Hello India, look towards Andhra Pradesh! One kilogram of bananas is being sold for just Rs 0.50! Yes, you heard it right, fifty paise. This is the plight of banana farmers in AP,’ Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote, attaching images of distressed farmers protesting at local markets.
The former CM noted that the fruit’s price undercut not just matchboxes but even a single biscuit, symbolizing the utter devaluation of rural labor. Banana cultivation, a lifeline for thousands in the arid Rayalaseema districts like YSR Kadapa, Kurnool, and Anantapur, has been battered by the 2025 Kharif season’s severe drought and unpredictable monsoons.
Official estimates indicate cultivation levels have nosedived to 19-35% of normal across these areas, with small and marginal farmers, many of whom poured lakhs of rupees into irrigation, fertilizers, and pest control, now staring at ruinous losses. Market arrivals have flooded local mandis, driving down rates amid weak demand from northern states and inadequate storage infrastructure.
The YSRCP leader didn’t hold back in attributing the turmoil to governmental neglect. ‘Not only bananas, from onions to tomatoes, no crop is receiving remunerative prices. Neither free crop insurance nor input subsidies during calamities, nor the promised cultivation support -everything proved to be a farce,’ he charged.
Mr. Jagan contrasted the prices with his government’s 2019-2024 tenure, during which banana yields commanded an average of Rs 25,000 per tonne. His administration had orchestrated special freight trains to transport produce to high-demand hubs like New Delhi and erected cold storage facilities statewide, shielding growers from forced fire sales, he said.
The outcry has amplified calls for federal intervention. YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose penned an urgent letter to the Union Agriculture Ministry, imploring immediate relief packages for Rayalaseema’s beleaguered banana growers. ‘Market failures are obliterating the livelihoods of thousands of small farmers,’ Mr. Bose emphasized, urging subsidies, price stabilization funds, and expedited procurement channels to stem the bleed.
As of December 3, banana procurement prices in affected districts lingered below Rs 1 per kg, with some farmers resorting to roadside dumps or animal feed conversions to salvage scraps of value. Agricultural experts warned that without swift action, such as enhanced minimum support prices or export incentives, the effects could snowball into broader food security concerns and rural unemployment spikes.
Meanwhile, the officials cited global supply chain disruptions and bumper yields in neighboring states as contributing factors. In a related development, the state agriculture department announced exploratory talks with private exporters to offload surplus stock.