Raichur: The Karnataka Raitha Sangha has suggested that the State Government formulate a strategy to end the problems faced by farmers permanently.

Welcoming the decision of the Government to waive crop loans, Chamarasa Malipatil, vice-president of the State unit of the sangha told presspersons here on Tuesday that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had announced on Sunday that the Government was thinking of waiving crop loans of farmers who had taken loans from rural cooperative banks.

However, this facility should be extended to all farmers, including those who had borrowed crop loans from nationalised banks, he added.

He said the Government was aware of the problems faced by farmers and suicide by farmers in the State might have prompted it to decide on waiving crops loans.

However, this would not solve all the problems faced by farmers. It should come out with a strategy that would solve their problems permanently, he added.

Mr. Malipatil said the Government had not addressed the issue of shortage of seeds and fertilizers. It had failed to extend its support while stabilising the price on agricultural commodities and in solving the power crisis and water shortage in the farm sector, he added.

On reported irregularities by the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) in handling cotton trading, he said the authorities concerned had failed to regularise the tender process in procuring cotton at the cotton township here.

This had affected the interests of farmers, he said.

There were complaints that traders had purchased cotton directly from farmers at a negotiable price in the absence of a tender process. In absence of any competition, the price on the commodity might fall below the support price announced by the Centre, he added.

He appealed to the district administration to convene a meeting of the authorities concerned at the APMC .

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