Karnataka - Mysore   

Shivanna objects to leasing of horticultural farms

MYSORE: The former Minister for Horticulture M. Shivanna has taken serious exception to the Government's move to lease horticultural farms to corporate bodies and other organisations.

Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, he noted that the move of the Government would be detrimental to the interests of farmers, as the basic idea behind forming horticultural farms was to conduct experiments in new techniques and encourage farmers to adopt the same.

He there were 413 horticultural farms in the State with a total area of 16,000 acres. However, the Government had already leased 3,885 acres and was planning to lease another 2,000 acres to multinational companies, he alleged.

Welcoming the formation of the Karnataka State Horticulture Development Agency (KSHDA), he observed that instead of leasing the farms, Government could have pumped in the money to develop more farms and reap the benefit.

He said that when he was the Horticulture Minister in S.M. Krishna's Cabinet, he had foiled attempts by corporate bodies to ‘swallow' the horticultural farms.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government was capitalising on that by leasing them to corporate bodies, he alleged.

“The pattern of leasing has created apprehension in the minds of people,” he noted. He urged the Government to halt the process of leasing immediately. Regretting the leasing of 500 acres in the Koratagere horticultural farm named after Marigowda, who was considered the ‘Father of Horticulture', he recalled that he had installed a statue of Dr. Marigowda in Bangalore when he was the Minister.

Expressing concern over the Government's move to lease out 196 acres of the horticultural farm in Bhimanakolli in H.D. Kote, on the banks of the Kabini, he said that many private agencies had developed resorts there and there was every possibility of leaseholders may do the same.

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