Davangere farmer offers brinjal to Lord Manjunatha over low price

A farmer from the taluk has sent five tonnes of brinjal to Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, a pilgrim centre in Dakshina Kannada district, in a lorry, to be used for mass-feeding purpose after he failed to get remunerative price for the produce in the market.

R G Basavaraju from Rampura village in the taluk who is also vice-president of Rajya Raitha Sangha, had grown around four-tonne brinjal on his two acres of land. The price in the market for a kg of brinjal was Rs 2. Hurt by it, he decided to send the vegetable to the pilgrim centre so that the temple authorities could use it. The farmer expected a minimum price of Rs 10 per kg in the market. But the absence of remunerative price forced him to transport the vegetable to the temple. Other farmers of the village who had grown it also gave away their produce. So, in total, five tonnes of brinjal was sent to Dharmasthala in a lorry.

He said merchants who procure brinjal at Rs 2 per kg sell the same at Rs 20 per kg in our presence. It is the most painful moment. "We loaded five tonne of brinjal in a lorry and sent it to Dharmasthala by paying Rs 9,000 from our own pockets."