Vijayawada: Leaders of farmers’ unions have issued a stern warning to the state government against large-scale land acquisition for corporate projects, alleging that such measures would devastate the farming community. They demanded the government to immediately scrap forced land acquisition, ensure Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, and safeguard public lands from being handed over to private companies.

At a press conference held at the Press Club here on Thursday, Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sanghala Samanvaya Samiti convener and former minister Vadde Shobhanadreeswara Rao, Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham vice-president Y Kesava Rao, and Andhra Pradesh Koulu Rythula Sangham state general secretary P Jamalayya strongly opposed the coalition government’s plan to acquire over 20 lakh acres of fertile farmland for solar, wind, and other power projects.

Shobhanadreeswara Rao alleged that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, instead of acting as a custodian of government lands, has turned the administration into a “real estate broker” by selling land in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and other regions at a nominal rate of 99 paise per acre. He said tying up multi-crop lands for 30 years without farmers’ consent amounted to exploitation. He warned that farmers’ unions would launch state-wide protests if the policies were not rolled back. Kesava Rao highlighted the absence of MSP for crucial crops. He said farmers cultivating chillies, rice, pulses, tomatoes, onions, papaya,mangoes, cocoa, tobacco, and oil palm were forced to sell at distress prices last year.