Urging the Centre to take immediate measures to ensure the marketing of agricultural produce, former Prime Minister H D Devegowda wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pointing out the risk of a food security crisis in the country.
Even though the country saw its first Covid-19 case on January 30, the government did not intimate people about the lockdown for two months, only to impose it later without forethought and proper planning, Gowda wrote in his letter.
“When the lockdown was announced none of us rushed to buy gold, land, card, expensive phones or clothes. All of us rushed to buy fruits, vegetables, milk, rice, ragi and wheat. Farmers are the soul of the nation. Respect them,” the JD(S) supremo stated.
The major problem faced by farmers was the remunerative price owing to lack of organised and good market facilities. Farmers had left crops in their field without harvesting, unable to recover their harvest costs too, he said.
Suggesting measures to remedy the situation, Gowda urged the Centre to ensure free movement of agricultural produce and to create a national grid for organised marketing of fruits and vegetables from surplus areas to deficit areas.
(Published 13 April 2020, 15:44 IST)
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