Karnataka seeks Rs 310 cr package for arecanut, grape, pomegranate growers

After banning the sale of gutkha and paan masala earlier this month, Karnataka is now seeking a relief package from the Centre to bail out arecanut farmers. The arecanut farmers have been suffering due to unseasonal rains, drought, increased pest and disease attack, higher input costs and price fluctuation.

The state government has also sought another Rs 110 crore for grape and pomegranate growers who have suffered crop losses due to drought and pest attack.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah met Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday and sought an assistance of Rs 200 crore for arecanut farmers. The state intends to implement some of the recommendations of Gorak Singh Committee that includes rehabilitation of Yellow Leaf Disease (YLD) affected gardens and waiver of loans and interest.

It has also proposed to provide a package for good management practices, multi-species cropping and promotion of alternative uses of arecanut among others.

The state government proposes to provide relief to about 10,000 farmers who have an area of 7,530 hectare of areca gardens affected by YLD.

In Karnataka, arecanut is grown on about 200,000 hectares and the production was around 224,000 tonnes in 2010-11. At a national level, the crop is cultivated on around 400,000 hectares and the production was estimated at 477,000 tonnes. Over a million farmer families are involved in the cultivation of arecanut in Karnataka, Kerala, Assam and five other states.

Siddaramaiah has also urged Pawar to provide another Rs 110 crore towards compensating grape and pomegranate growers in the state. Due to severe drought conditions in grape-growing districts of Bijapur, Bagalkot and Belgaum, grape orchards are drying up.

Grape is a perennial crop and therefore, farmers cannot switch over to other crops immediately. Since the groundwater reserve has also depleted, the situation is critical and farmers have no choice but to bring water from far away places through tankers to save their orchards.

The total area under grapes in Karnataka is 12,800 hectares of which about 8,000 hectares have been affected, causing hardship for nearly 5,000 farmers.

In order to help these farmers, the state government has sought an assistance of Rs 10 crore from the Centre which will be used to provide them irrigation facilities, mulching and shadenet for the grape vines to prevent the loss of moisture and avoid sunburn.

In addition to this, the state government has sought another Rs 100 crore from the Centre for pomegranate growers. The pomegranate crop has been affected by bacterial blight in the last 6-7 years. The drought during the last two years has added to the distress of farmers. It is estimated that over 60,000 tonnes of pomegranate crop, valued around Rs 300 crore is being lost annually, thereby causing loss of export opportunities.

In order to help these farmers, the state government has sought a special package consisting of waiver of loan and interest availed from cooperative and nationalized banks, assistance for adopting good management practices, support for rainwater harvesting and support for post harvest management techniques among others.

Karnataka has a horticulture area of about 2 million hectares with an annual production of about 160 tonnes. Export of horticulture produce brings in an income of Rs 4,500 crore to growers annually.