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| State to develop green belt along irrigation canals |
| BS Reporter / Chennai/ Bangalore Nov 10, 2009, 00:43 IST |
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The Karnataka government is planning to take up a massive programme to develop green belt along the irrigation canals that are over 100,000 km in the state. The department of irrigation has prepared an action plan in this regard based on former bureaucrat A N Yellappa Reddy Committee recommendations, state minister major irrigation Basavaraj Bommai said.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of International Conference on Horticulture, organised by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, and Dr Prem Nath Agricultural Sciences Foundation, here today, he said the main objective of developing green belt along the irrigation canals was to enable farmers earn extra income and also to avoid soil erosion on either sides of the canals.
“The state has over 100,000 km of irrigation canals along the Cauvery, Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers. We will take up planting of teak, hone and firewood trees in these river belts in a phased manner in the next three years. We will empower farmers in these areas to grow regionally important trees and provide budgetary support for the programme during the next budget. The farmers will not only plant trees in cooperation with forest, agriculture and horticulture departments, but also maintain the green belt,” Bommai said.
He said the irrigation department is also planning to undertake soil health detection programme starting January in the Cauvery and Krishna river catchment areas. To begin with 5,000 acres area in each of the two river belts will be taken up. Under the programme, the department will test the soil for various chemical contents and issue a soil health card to the farmers, so that they can take up measures to improve the soil. This will help not only conserve water but also increase foodgrain production, he said.
Earlier, speaking at the inauguration of international conference on horticulture, he said the state needs to take up short term and long-term measures to increase the horticulture production. The farmers should extensively make use of drip irrigation and sprinkler system to increase productivity, he said.
Karnataka governor H R Bharadwaj, who inaugurated the conference, said the country needs to arrest food price rise and ensure food security for all.
The governments should think beyond giving minimum support price to farmers for their produce to enhance food production. The farmer needs to be given social security so that he will concentrate on increasing the food production, he said.
Over 700 professionals, farmers, industrialists and policy makers from different countries of Asia, Europe, West Asia and USA are attending the four-day conference. Around 650 research papers are being presented at the conference.
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