Coffee growers demand suitable compensation in budget

Members of Karnataka Growers' Federation (KGF) have appealed to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to provide suitable compensation to the coffee growers in the State Budget.

The coffee growers have conveyed to chief minister on the problems faced by them during the pre-budget consultation meeting held at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru recently.

The Federation urged Yediyurappa to include all the coffee growers with 10 hp pumpset from LT 4 C category to LT 4 A category while supplying electricity. Free electricity should be supplied to the growers. The coffee growers owning up to 10 hp pumpset should be considered as small growers. The fall in price and decline in production of coffee have severely affected growers in Karnataka.

They also urged the chief minister to waive the interest on the loans borrowed from nationalised, commercial and private banks. The loan waiver facility should be extended to the loans borrowed from all nationalised, commercial and private banks.

KGF President U M Theerthamallesh said that Yediyurappa had promised to make an earnest attempt to understand and consider the demands of the growers.

Growers urged the chief minister to provide financial assistance to Coffee Marketing Co-operative Ltd (COMARK), to market coffee. The production cost of the coffee has increased and the growers are in distress.

The coffee growers also urged Yediyurappa to announce a permanent measure to tackle elephant menace in the coffee growing districts of Kodagu, Hassan and Chikkamagaluru. The elephants that are camping inside coffee estates should be relocated.

The chief minister has promised to give priority to the rejuvenation of lakes and irrigation in the budget. All those people who had lost their houses in the flood and heavy rain will be provided houses.