The Hindu : Front Page : Experts’ panel soon to look into agrarian crisis

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Experts’ panel soon to look into agrarian crisis

Special Correspondent

Have confidence in my Government, Yeddyurappa tells farmers

Morale boosting: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa speaking to leaders of farmers in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa offered hope for farmers who came in large numbers from all over the State to list their grievances before him.

He constantly reminded them the reasons for the shortage of fertilizers in the State and blamed the Centre for delay and inadequate supply of the State quota. “I will take a delegation to Delhi on Wednesday to seek more supply of fertilizers from the Centre,” he said.

He appealed to the farmers in distress not to take the extreme step, but to have confidence in his Government. Any farmer could contact him directly for redressal of his problem. A committee of experts would be set up to look into the agrarian problems.

“We require 95,000 tonnes of DAP fertilizer for this month. But we got only 45,000 tonnes of DAP,” he said.

The Centre had supplied 1,00,410 tonnes of complex fertilizers against the State’s demand for 1,54,000 tonnes. Lack of preparations to get the input during the President’s rule and delayed response from the Centre had aggravated the crisis, he said.

During the three-hour interaction with leaders of farmers, former ministers and experts, Mr. Yeddyurappa re-assured them of the priority the Government would accord to address their concerns. More funds would be allocated for promoting organic farming in all taluks and steps would be taken to put an end to the problems posed by middlemen in Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yards, he said.

A majority of the farmers demanded that the Government evolve scientific methods to fix prices of farm produce, provide insurance for all crops, free power supply, timely distribution of farm inputs, higher allocation to the Revolving Fund, subsidy to take up organic farming, and launch awareness campaigns on various schemes. G.K Veeresh, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, expressed concern over the communication gap between farmers and officials of the Agriculture Department and sought appointment of nodal officers to address the problems on daily basis.

Urging the Government to establish a farmers’ welfare department and a welfare fund to tackle their problems, Dr. Veeresh stressed the need for encouraging farmers to take up organic farming which would reduce the cost of cultivation.

Congress MLA T.B. Jayachandra urged the Chief Minister to look into the problems confronting the agriculture sector such as shortage of fertilizers, pending irrigation projects, establishment of cold storages, crash in the prices of farm produce and procurement of foodgrains.

Only a small percentage of rich farmers benefited from subsidies.

Many small and marginal farmers had been denied facilities. Factors such as erratic power supply and increase in the prices of farm inputs had affected the farmers, he said.

Satish Hegde, organic farmer from Uttara Kannada, said the Government should set up a village welfare fund to address the monetary problems faced by farmers, and an organic research centre at Sirsi in the district.

He said farmers’ self-help groups on the lines of those set up by Sri Khetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project should be formed to take up farming collectively.

K.S. Puttanaiah, president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, opposed acquisition of farmers’ land for SEZs and demanded that the Government pay Rs. 1 crore for an acre of farmland.

Ministers, former Ministers, and farmers’ leaders such as Kodihalli Chandrashekar, Basavaraj Thambake and H.R. Basavarajappa participated in the discussion.

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