Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore   

Fall in sowing area in State

By Our Special

Correspondent

BANGALORE Sept. 2. Vijay Gore, Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner, on Tuesday said that there was a fall of 10 lakh hectares in sowing area in the State this year because of the drought. Addressing presspersons here, he said sowing area had been reduced from 59 lakh hectares to 49 lakh hectares. The drought had affected sowing operations in Gadag, Dharwad, Belgaum and Chamarajanagar districts and this would reduce the yield this year, he added. Area under paddy, jowar and oilseeds had declined drastically. Farmers had started growing maize, soya bean and other crops that required less quantity of water, he said. Referring to reports of suicide by farmers in the State, Mr. Gore said all such cases were not related to debt. As many as 26 cases were reported to the Government and 14 were rejected. Of the 12 cases, compensation had been given to six families. Infor- mation had been sought from the authorities in the other cases, he added. However, newspapers reported 75 such deaths in August, he said. He said the Bangalore Metro Transport Corporation (BMTC) had decided to run five buses with bio-fuel from next month. Besides, reducing the level of pollution in the city, bio-fuel would be cheaper than diesel, he added. The BMTC would invite tenders for supply of bio-fuel. The Environment Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI), Peenya, had been asked to study the economic feasibility and supply capacity of bio-fuel in the State. Bio-fuel made out of Pongamia (honge) would be used initially, he added.

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