‘Market for organic products on cards’

Agriculture Minister N H Shivashankar Reddy said measures have been taken to waive farmers’ loan within 15 days.

Speaking after watching a demonstration on the mechanised paddy farming at Santhosh Nagar at Hemmadi in Kundapur taluk, the minister said that a circular on loan waiver has been sent to all cooperative societies. The loan amount will be credited to the accounts of the farmers, he said.

In the first phase, Rs 9,500 crore loan of the farmers in cooperative societies will be waived. The farmers’ loan in private financial institutions will be waived in the second phase, he added.

Reddy said the staff crunch in the Agriculture Department has affected the awareness programmes to be organised for the farmers. The government has decided to appoint 600 students of the agricultural university at Raitha Samparka Kendras, he added.

The minister said the organic farming is emphasised and encouraged. Sadly, the organic farm produces have no market.

The government is planning to provide the market for the organic products, he said.

He said that the lack of manual labourers for the cultivation has hindered the paddy cultivation activities. In this backdrop, the mechanised farming is supported. The farm machines are provided on rent at Raitha Samparka Kendras at reasonable prices. The companies that provide the farm machines should also be compulsorily setting up the repair shops in each taluk. This will immensely help the farmers, he said.

He said that the identity card will be provided for all farmers in six months and the work is in progress. This will enable the farmers to avail of the benefits of all the facilities, he noted.

He said that the Central government has already announced the support price for the farm produces. The state government will purchase the farm produces for better prices as the prices for all the agriculture goods have gone down, he said.

Reddy said the issue of giving licences to farmers to get rid of wild animal menace will be looked into. The matter will be discussed with the DC, he added.

He said he will hold talks with the irrigation minister to help farmers by constructing banks alongside every farm field to prevent the water from destroying the crops.