<p>A farmer who had been growing ragi and other traditional crops all his life, switched over to papaya — hoping to reap good profits. But he has incurred huge loss in K R Nagar taluk.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Puttaiah, a resident of Geradada in K R Nagar taluk, has been affected because he ventured to try a new crop. Puttaiah said he had been growing ragi and horsegram for decades, which had been providing his family with two meals a day.<br /><br />But, when his son suggested growing of papaya to reap quick money, he accepted it and began growing papaya on his 1.10 acre of land eight months ago. He bought thousand saplings of a papaya variety called Tailwan Redlady and started nurturing them.<br /><br />Puttaiah had allegedly purchased the saplings from Mysore and had paid Rs 15 per plant. <br /><br />He planted the saplings and had used manure from his house. He watered the plants from a borewell on his land and had even constructed a water tank measuring 20x30 so that water stored in it can be used during power shut down also.<br /><br />The papaya plants too grew healthy in the initial stages. But, Puttaiah’s happiness was shortlived as the fruits were being infected with pests. The leaves started turning yellow and black spots were seen on the fruits and on the leaves.<br /><br />Anxious Puttaiah immediately contacted the department officials, but in vain. But, director of horticulture Manjunath Angadi said he does not have any information on the issue.</p>
<p>A farmer who had been growing ragi and other traditional crops all his life, switched over to papaya — hoping to reap good profits. But he has incurred huge loss in K R Nagar taluk.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Puttaiah, a resident of Geradada in K R Nagar taluk, has been affected because he ventured to try a new crop. Puttaiah said he had been growing ragi and horsegram for decades, which had been providing his family with two meals a day.<br /><br />But, when his son suggested growing of papaya to reap quick money, he accepted it and began growing papaya on his 1.10 acre of land eight months ago. He bought thousand saplings of a papaya variety called Tailwan Redlady and started nurturing them.<br /><br />Puttaiah had allegedly purchased the saplings from Mysore and had paid Rs 15 per plant. <br /><br />He planted the saplings and had used manure from his house. He watered the plants from a borewell on his land and had even constructed a water tank measuring 20x30 so that water stored in it can be used during power shut down also.<br /><br />The papaya plants too grew healthy in the initial stages. But, Puttaiah’s happiness was shortlived as the fruits were being infected with pests. The leaves started turning yellow and black spots were seen on the fruits and on the leaves.<br /><br />Anxious Puttaiah immediately contacted the department officials, but in vain. But, director of horticulture Manjunath Angadi said he does not have any information on the issue.</p>
