In the next, loans taken by farmers from banks would be waived

N.H. Shivashankar Reddy, Agriculture Minister, said on Monday that the government had already issued a circular to all cooperative societies with regard to the loan waiver scheme announced by the government and the money would be deposited into the accounts of eligible farmers in the State within a fortnight.

He was speaking after watching the performance of a mechanical paddy transplanter at Hemmady village, Kundapur taluk, in Udupi district.

Mr. Reddy said that in the first phase, the loans taken by the farmers from the cooperative societies to the tune of ₹9,500 crore would be waived. In the next phase, the loans taken by the farmers from the banks would be waived.

Organic farming

The government was laying emphasis on organic farming. But the farmers were not getting a good price for the organic produce. Hence, the government would take suitable steps to create proper markets for the produce.

It had become difficult to give proper information to farmers as many posts were vacant in the Agriculture Department. Hence, it had been decided to take the help of 600 students from agriculture colleges at the Raitha Samparka Kendras.

There was a shortage of farm workers in the agriculture sector. So mechanised farm equipment was being provided to farmers on hire at the Farm Equipments Hire Centres. The farmers should take advantage of the facilities available at these centres. The companies selling mechanised farm equipment would be told to open a repair centre in every taluk and they would be chosen through tender process, he said.

All farmers would be provided with identity cards within six months. This would help them avail various facilities.

Other problemsThe Union government had announced minimum support price for various crops. Even if the prices got reduced in the markets, the State government would purchase farmers’ produce at this price, Mr. Reddy said.

When farmers complained to Mr. Reddy about the difficulty in getting licences for guns to be used to scare away wild animals that destroyed crops, he said that he would tell the Deputy Commissioner to simplify the process.

On complaints of salt water entering fields and destroying crops, Mr. Reddy said that he would discuss with the Minor Irrigation Ministry on constructing bunds near fields to protect the crops.