In an effort to encourage the farmer increase farm output, the Karnataka government intends to seriously examine the feasibility of extending farm loans under the cooperative sector at an even lower rate of 1 per cent, governor H R Bharadwaj said here today.
“My government has always been keeping the farmers in the forefront of its developmet framework. The scheme of advancing term loans to the farmers, weavers and fishermen at the rate of 3 per cent through cooperative credit societies and banks is a model to follow. Agricultural loans amounting to Rs 3,010 crore have already been disbursed to over 890,000 farmers during the present year,” the governor said in his speech to the joint session of the state legislative assembly, here on Thursday.
During the present year, the production of foodgrains is expected to be around 12.57 million tonnes. This will be a record in the state. Over 2.5 million farmers have been given quality seeds at subsidised rates during this year.
The Bhoochetana programme, which has led to higher yields, covers 1.2 million hectares across 16 districts, he said.
To promote organic farming the government has earmarked an amount of Rs 100 crore this year and plans to bring 71,000 hectares under organic cultivation, he said.
The government was in the process of setting up horti-clinics / horticulture information and consultancy centers with the objective of helping the farmers and entrepreneurs in getting detailed information. “Karnataka has a great potential to develop as the horticulture hub of the country. My government will endeavour to bring out more schemes to achieve the objective,” the governor said.
Referring to the recent Krishna Tribunal Award, which enhanced the water resources potential of the state, he said the government is planning to make larger investments in water sector to utilize this potential and to enable farmers to benefit on a bigger scale. This decade (2011-2020) will be declared as “Neeravari Dashaka” (irrigation decade) with focus on water resources management in Karnataka.
Accordingly, suitable master plans and modalities for their effective implementation will be rolled out in the coming months, he said.
“The government, for the first time in the country, has initiated preparation of plans with the support of the Asian Development Bank to implement integrated water resources management at the river basin level. An MoU has also been entered into with Water Resources Group 2030 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) with the objective to workout strategic options for the Karnataka’s water sector reforms,” the governor said in his speech.
