Bengaluru rural MP meets Shivraj Singh Chouhan, urges him to release funds for Ramanagar farmers

New Delhi: Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha member C N Manjunath on Saturday met Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and urged him to release funds to farmers of Ramanagar district, who have lost coconut and mango crops due to inclement weather.

More than 50,000 farmers in the district have lost Rs 57.67 crore worth mango crops and Rs 30.65 crore worth coconut crops. The MP requested the minister to release funds under the National Disaster Relief Funds, said a statement.

He also urged the Minister to upgrade the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research Centre at Hesaraghatta as Deemed University, a statement said.

More than 1.5 lakh  agriculture  graduates are  required by 2025 to meet the demand in the country. At present 10,000 graduates are coming out from 57 horticulture colleges. If the IIHR Hesaraghatta upgraded as Deemed University, it would help to produce quality agriculture graduates, he said.