MYSURU: Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission (KAPC) will on January 1 release the projected prices of 26 crops for the next six months. KAPC chairman TN Prakash Kammaradi said, for the first time in the country, Karnataka has calculated the indicative prices of ragi, paddy, peanuts, cotton and 22 other crops for the next six months through an e-advisory system.
“We have come up with this system by jointly working with Microsoft. The projected (or indicative) prices of these crops have been calculated based on weather conditions, expenditure of growing crops and ecometric software,” he added. On advantages of the e-advisory system which is the first of its kind in the country, Prakash said it helps farmers gauge the possible movements of prices. He predicted that paddy, ragi and cotton will “surely” get good prices in the next six months.
He said prices of some crops have come down drastically following demonetisation and the implementation of GST as traders were sceptical about buying farm produce. The projected prices of 26 crops will be published on KAPC’s official website in Kannada and pamphlets with the same information will be distributed to farmers through agriculture universities and agriculture and horticulture departments.
On Indian farm produce being rejected by foreign importers, Prakash urged farmers not to use banned fertilizers and pesticides to grow their crops. “This is the reason they are rejected. “Due to use of chemical fertilizers, Iran and a few other countries have rejected Sona Massoori rice variants produced in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu this year,” he added.