The State Government will constitute a new directorate to promote secondary agricultural occupations in a bid to enhance the income of the farmers, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said here on Sunday.He also said that the existing rural credit scheme has to be overhauled so as to increase the credit limit extended to farmers. Mr. Bommai was speaking at the Farmers’ Day celebrations organised by Federation of Farmers Association and Karnataka State Sugarcane Cultivators’ Association. Mr. Bommai said that though agricultural production has increased, so has the crisis and issues plaguing the sector and the farmers. He said it is in this context that the State Government was keen on establishing a separate directorate for promoting secondary agricultural occupations including processing of all agro products to shore up farmers’ income. Mr. Bommai said he had discussion with experts on the subject and said that the focus all these years was on agriculture while the plight of the farmers had been ignored. This led to a situation where food producers were in dire straits, he added.
Scholarship scheme
Mr. Bommai said he had extended the Mukhamantri Raitha Vidya Nidhi scholarship to children of farmers studying in high school as well to arrest the drop out rate. Education coupled with farming will help farmers to secure alternative source of income besides agriculture, he added. On the institutional lending to the farmers, the Chief Minister said the existing rural credit scheme needs to be overhauled. At present, there are limits to the extent of loan farmers can avail based on the type of crop they cultivate. This, he said, was a pittance compared to the requirements. Referring to some of the demands made by the farmers, the Chief Minister said the State Advisory Price for sugarcane and the demand for a share in the sale of sugarcane by-products, will also be reviewed.