Speaking after relating District Credit Plan for 2010-11 at Canara Bank auditorium here on Saturday, the minister said that emphasis need to be laid on regulating the market and the prices as the farmers will have to bear the brunt of price crash. “Farmers need to be enlightened on the market conditions, soil fertility and adopting cropping pattern that suits that soil and local climate condition,” he opined.

Scope of services

The minister said that the services to the poor should not be limited to advancing subsidy loans but aim at the larger perspective of making them self-reliant. The objective of extending monetary assistance to the poorer sections of the society would then be served better, the minister opined. Equal emphasis should be laid on employment generation, recharging groundwater table, afforestation, dairy farming, sericulture and horticulture also. Muniyappa observed that the district is in advantageous position in terms of rain as compared to Israel. The groundwater could be recharged if check dams are constructed to tap the rain water that flows to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states.

“The purpose of extending financial assistance would not be served if farmers are encouraged to purchase cows but not provided market to sell the produce. The milk producers would have to fend for themselves in the absence of the market for their produce. The Kolar-Chikkaballapur Milk Producers Union (Komul) should therefore provide conducive marketing facilities to the milk producers,” Muniyappa noted and directed the Komul officer to make arrangements for sale of one lakh more litres of milk.

Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer G V Rangarao, Reserve Bank Officer Sumitha Kumari, Regional president of Karnataka Khadi and Village Industries Board K C Kalappa, Jayaprakash Samudre of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, Assistant General manager of Canara Bank V J Antony, Lead Bank Manager K E Thimmappa and officers of Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture Departments were present.