BANGALORE: The State Government has decided to procure copra from farmers at Rs. 4,775 a quintal from Monday.

Minister for Agricultural Marketing Sharanabasappa Darshanapur told presspersons on Friday that the Government Order would be issued on Saturday to procure copra from farmers at Tiptur, Arasikere and other parts of the State.

The Karnataka State Cooperative Marketing Federation would begin procurement from Monday, he said.

Reacting to a report on "Fall in prices leaves farmers in dire straits" published in The Hindu on Friday, the Minister admitted that there were some problems on timely procurement of farm produce and inadequate cold storage capacity was one of them.

The report said farmers were unhappy over the delay in the procurement and low support price offered by the Government for copra, onion and sugarcane.

Mr. Darshanapur said the Government had decided to release Rs. 10 crore on Saturday for procurement of copra. The transportation of copra from Kerala to Karnataka was one of the reasons for the fall in prices, he said.

The procurement of copra was delayed following difference in the support price announced by the Centre and State governments.

The Centre had fixed the price at Rs. 3,840 a quintal while the State Government had fixed Rs. 4,775. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy appealed to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to reimburse the difference to the State. But the latter had rejected the proposal, Mr. Darshanapur said.

Kannada Rakshana Vedike and Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Horata Samhti observed bandh in Tiptur and Arasikere on Monday and Tuesday respectively to protest against the failure of the Government to procure copra despite announcing the support price. The prices of copra crashed from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 3,900 a quintal in the last one-month.

Onion procurement

Asked about the procurement of onion, the Minister said about 9.5 lakh quintals of onion had been procured from farmers in Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri districts.

A bumper crop pushed down the price of onion this year. The Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) procured "A" grade of onion at Rs. 500 a quintal. Large quantity of onion was destroyed on account of off-season rains, he said.

The State Cabinet had approved an amendment to the APMC Act, which would help in changing the present functioning of the APMC yards. The APMC yards would be thrown open to all farmers and the public for sale and purchase of goods.

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