The Hindu : Karnataka News : Price of pesticide causes confusion among farmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 22, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Price of pesticide causes confusion among farmers

Staff Correspondent

Starthene is sold at Rs. 451 a kg in State while in A.P. it costs Rs. 340

MYSORE: The reported sale of a pesticide to tobacco farmers in the State for a price higher than that prevailing in Andhra Pradesh has led to confusion among the estimated 56,000 tobacco growers in Mysore district.

Soon after the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha's (KRRS) recent revelation that the pesticide, Starthene, was being sold at Rs. 340 a kg in Andhra Pradesh against the Rs. 451 here, the Karnataka Virginia Fluke Cured Tobacco Growers Association expressed surprise over the fact that the KRRS had remained silent over the issue for the last four years. The pesticide was being sold at the same rate at auction platforms of the Tobacco Board since 2001. "Why did the KRRS remain silent all these years?" asked Javare Gowda, President of Karnataka Virginia Fluke Cured Tobacco Growers Association.

The General Secretary of KRRS, Mysore district, Badagalpura Nagendra, claimed that the Tobacco Board had started selling the pesticide to farmers in quantities of two kg each to an estimated 55,000 barns in the district. "The difference of Rs. 110 for each kg of the pesticide will sum up to Rs. 1.22 crores," he said showing receipts for purchase of a kg of Starthene at Rs. 340 a kg in Andhra Pradesh.

Accusing the Tobacco Board of committing a fraud on tobacco farmers in the State, the KRRS has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation probe to expose the alleged nexus between members of the Input Committee of the Board and pesticide dealers.

Though Mr. Javare Gowda welcomed the demand for a probe, he said tobacco farmers in the district would be confused by the revelations of the KRRS as they have come at a time when farmers had taken up sowing. "Hopefully, a probe will clear the air," he said.

The problem is compounded as an alternative to Starthene, which is used to fight black bug, is Confidar, a pesticide priced at Rs. 680 a kg.

But Mr. Javare Gowda also said the pesticide sold in Andhra Pradesh at a lower price might be spurious. "The market is flooded with cheap products that are spurious," he added. Mr. Javare Gowda, however, did not agree with the contention of the KRRS that the Tobacco Board had started selling the pesticide to farmers before the scheduled attack of black bug, which normally strikes in July and August. Mr. Javare Gowda said the pesticide was used even at the nursery stage to prevent a pest attack. "There is nothing wrong in taking precautionary measures," he said. Meanwhile, Tobacco Board's Regional Office in Mysore claimed that the sale and pricing of Starthene was in accordance with the norms and procedures of the Tobacco Board. "I am writing to the Tobacco Board's headquarters in Guntur to confirm the price of Starthene in Andhra Pradesh," the Regional Manager of Tobacco Board, Mysore, Veerappa, told The Hindu.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section