Bengaluru, March 4

In a bid to encourage farm mechanisation to boost productivity, Karnataka has planned to subsidise diesel cost for the farmers through a new scheme ‘Raitha Shakti’ with an outlay of ₹500 crore.

Presenting the 2022-23 Budget, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said to encourage the use of farm machinery and to reduce fuel expenditure burden, for the first time in the State, diesel subsidy at ₹250 per acre subject to maximum for 5 acres will be given through DBT under a new scheme “Raitha Shakti” for which Rs.500 crore will be provided.”

To make farm machineries available to small and marginal farmers the state also plans to extend the Krishi Yantradhare Centres to all hoblis.

Bommai also outlined various measures to strengthen the post harvest infrastructure and encourage value addition for farm produce. “Through Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation (KAPPEC), common centres for Farmer Producer Organisations will be developed to take up post-harvest management marketing and export farm produce by formulating a scheme at a cost of ₹50 crore,” he said.

The State has set up a Directorate of Secondary Agriculture, which will enable value addition to the primary agricultural produce and create more marketing opportunities with the help of FPOs.

PPP model

A cold modern storage facility will be established on PPP model at Toravi village in Vijayapura district, which has the largest area under grape cultivation in the state, at a cost of ₹35 crore. The cold storage will be set up through the Karnataka Grape and Wine Board to scientifically manage storage, conservation and transportation of grapes through cold storage transportation vehicles, Bommai said.

The State will also provide a grant of ₹35 crore under the National Mission on Edible oil to increase the oil palm cultivation by 25,000 hectares over the next five years. Besides, to encourage farmers to take up natural farming, the study of nitrogen fixation and bio-analytical techniques in natural farming will be taken up through Agricultural and Horticultural universities in an area of 1,000 acre each and will be extended to farmers’ lands, Bommai said.

Having brought 2 lakh hectares of farm land under organic farming, Karnataka stands third in production of organic farm produce in the country. Bommai also said that action will be taken to implement Pradhana Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojane – Watershed Development component-2.0 with assistance from Central Government at a cost of ₹642 crore in 2.75 lakh hectares of rain fed area covering 57 taluks of the State.

Also Karnataka proposes to brand the tur dal grown in Kalburgi and Yadagiri districts, which has distinct geographical indication, under the brand name “Bhima Pulse.”

Further, it is proposed to set up a ‘Ksheera Samruddhi Sahakara Bank’ to facilitate the milk producers to get hassle free loans. A share capital of ₹100 crore will be provided by the State government and a total of ₹260 crore will be provided by the Milk Producers Co-operative Society, Karnataka Milk Federation and District Milk Unions for this purpose.

Also, Karnataka, which ranks first in silk production in the country, announced an incentive of ₹10,000 per tonne to silk farmers producing Bivoltine cocoon and selling the same in Government Silk Cocoon Market. A hi-tech Government Cocoon Market will be established in Kalaburgi and Haveri districts at a cost of ₹30 crore with the assistance from Nabard to provide modern marketing facilities to the silk growers in the State.

Bommai further said that in order to increase the income of silk farmers and silk produce, incentive given to Bivoltine cocoon will be increased by ₹50 per kg. Also an incentive will be given to the raw silk produced by silk reelers, he said.

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