JOIN USHe warned the dealers against hoarding the seeds and fertilisers and selling them for more than the retail price. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Katti said there was no dearth of cotton seeds, but the government was unable to meet the farmers’ demand for seeds of ‘Kanaka’ variety of BT cotton.
“This is the variety which the farmers from Haveri and Chamarajnagar are demanding. But we have limited stock of those seeds this year,” he said. Katti said that last year the department distributed 65,000 packets of ‘Kanaka’ cotton seeds and this year it had plans to increase it to 75,000 packets. But the demand being three times more, the State was unable to cater to it. He requested farmers to go for other varieties of BT cotton which are equally good.
Regarding the fertiliser crisis, he said the State required 23 lakh tonnes of chemical fertilisers, including six lakh tonnes of DAP. “But as the Union Government has cut down the supply by 50 per cent, the farmers have to rely on complex mix as an alternative to DAP,” he said.
He said the Raitha Samparka Kendras across the State had been directed to help the farmers prepare the complex mix. Stating that some of the dealers were trying to create artificial scarcity and selling the fertilisers at a higher price, he warned of serious action against such dealers. “If any person is found involved in such activities, we will confiscate their property and their trading licences will be cancelled,” he said.
He appealed to the farmers to come forward and lodge complaints with the authorities about such dealers. Considering the falling price of paddy, the State Government has decided to approach the Union Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar, seeking that the support price for paddy be fixed at the earliest.
Katti said that he had sought an appointment with Pawar in the first week of June and a delegation headed by Chief Minister Yeddyurappa will be meeting the Union Minister.
He said that last year a support price of Rs 1,000 was fixed for grade 2 paddy and Rs 1,030 for grade 1 paddy. The paddy prices in Raichur had fallen by Rs 100 per quintal, while they had come down by Rs 50 in Davangere and other regions, Katti added.