Declare DK district as drought-hit demand farmers

Mangaluru: In the backdrop lack of rainfall this year with no sufficient water to drink, DK district is facing a drought-like situation and hence, the farmers from the district have urged the government to declare the district as drought-hit.

The demand was put forth before DK district in-charge minister U T Khader by the leaders of the farmers, while the minister was chairing a progress review meeting of agriculture, horticulture and cooperative departments at the DC office on Wednesday June 19.

The farmers informed that due to the lack of water they were unable to water their areca nut, coconut and banana plantations and they cited that there would be no proper yield for the next year. Hence they urged the minister to declare the district as drought-hit.

Lack of information

Some leaders complained that the agriculture and horticulture departments had failed to provide information regarding the various government facilities, which the farmers claimed to have deprived them of various benefits. Due to the lack of knowledge, the agricultural equipment is just being dumped at the Raitha Samparka Kendra (RSK) and no farmer is taking any benefits out of this.

In response, Mr Khader asked the concerned departments to create awareness regarding the various government schemes and help farmers avail their benefits. Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil said that a district level call centre would be created to educate the farmers of the government programmes.

Kole Roga compensation

During the meeting, several farmers raised the issue regarding the delay in the release of the compensation for the areca nut fruit rot diseases (Kole Roga) to which the DC replied that a total of 56,000 applications had been submitted and 50,000 of them have been resolved. “There could be some specific reasons for not releasing compensation to some of the applicants,” explained Mr Senthil.

Prominent demands of the farmers

• Farmers demanded that the cases booked against them by the banks be withdrawn.
• Increasing the fee for gun license renewal is not right; it will be challenged legally.
• Include paddy cultivation under employment guarantee scheme.
• Let the announcement of drought-hit district be continued.
• Stop of the import of low quality areca nut is necessary.