Karnataka seeks Cuban expertise in organic farming

"About 2,000 farmers from across Karnataka are scheduled to visit Cuba in March for a first-hand view of the organic farming practiced there to overcome food shortage due to the
US economic blockade," the embassy said in a statement.

In the run-up to the upcoming week-long visit, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had invited the Cuban ambassador, Miguel Angel Ramirez, to participate in a farmers' rally Jan 29 at Hubli, about 400 km from Bangalore.

"Our success in using organic farming for food self-sufficiency is based on scientific advances we made to overcome the hurdles created by the US blockade," Ramirez had told about 25,000 farmers at the massive rally.

The Cuban embassy is coordinating with the Karnataka Organic Farming Mission on the visit of state farmers to Havana.

"The introduction of organic farming helped the Cuban people to increase food production and face the embargoes imposed by the US government over the past five decades," the statement noted.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which had sent about 1,000 farmers in batches to China and Israel during the past two years, will spend about Rs.100,000 on each farmer for the Cuban trip.

The state government set up early this fiscal the Organic Farming Mission, headed by A.S. Anand, with Rs.100-crore budget outlay to encourage organic farming and minimise the use of fertilisers and pesticides in cultivation.

About 118,000 hectares of land across Karnataka are under organic farming practiced by 90,000 farmers.