Give more money to agriculture: Siddu
Opposition leader in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah on Friday asked the State government to increase budgetary allocation for the agriculture and irrigation sectors to push up the State’s food production, which has remained stagnant for the last one decade.
JD(S) floor leader H D Revanna on his part suggested to create a corpus fund of Rs 1,000 crore to help farmers in distress.
Delivering a marathon speech on the rural development, Siddaramaiah said the State food production is 103 lakh tonnes and this figure has not changed since 1999. It is mainly due to failure on the part of government to provide irrigation. “Presently, the government is spending around 15 per cent of the total budget for rural development, agriculture and irrigation. For the food production to go up, the government has to spend at least 35 per cent of the total budget on the irrigation and agriculture sectors,” he stated.
Due to drought and flood in many parts of the State this year, it is estimated that the production would come down by 25 per cent. As a result of increasing population, land holdings have shrinked. Hence, rural people are migrating to urban centres due to non-availability of employment opportunities. The government, therefore, should come out with a 20 year action plan for agriculture and rural development, he said.
Revanna said the Government should take steps to ensure good seeds and fertilisers are made available for farmers. The government should establish a cooperative on the lines of Karnataka Milk Federation to purchase vegetables directly from the doorstep of farmers.
