CHANDIGARH: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday demanded direct export facility to farmers to export their agriculture produce and provide freight corridor from Amritsar to Mumbai.
 

Addressing mediapersons here, Sidhu said that the Central Government was promoting middlemen in every trade and as a result original producers are not getting the good price.

He added that the middlemen were pocketing big margins. He said that income of farmers should be increased to remove poverty and link crop prices with the price index. He demanded a comprehensive agriculture policy to protect the farmers.
 
Sidhu said the Government's Rs 800 per quintal duty on export of basmati rice has affected 15 lakh farmers involved in good quality basmati rice production.

He said that a national movement is on the anvil with several MPs joining his campaign to save our large farming community. He said he would raise voice in Parliament for quick action to save farmers.
 
Satnam Singh Behru, president of Punjab chapter of Indian Consortium of Farmers Associations, said that many farmers had shifted to basmati cultivation because it yields good money. He said that present policies would discourage such farmers.