BENGALURU: The Institution of Agricultural Technologists (IAT), a policy advocacy body with 6,000 agriculture experts as its members, suggested to the state government to establish a dedicated Karnataka Drought Resilience Mission integrating Agriculture, Horticulture, Watershed Development, Animal Husbandry, Rural Development, Water Resources, the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre and professional institutions.
Dr AB Patil, President, IAT, stated that there is a need to shift the approach from “drought relief” to “drought resilience and recovery”. The IAT suggested several short-term and long-term measures for drought-proofing in Karnataka.
The government has declared 124 taluks as drought-hit, and the number is likely to reach around 200. The three-day session of the state legislature, which started on Monday, will discuss the current situation and measures required to be taken to provide relief to people in drought-hit taluks.
The IAT suggested that the 2026 drought should be treated not merely as a relief situation but as an opportunity to transform Karnataka’s agricultural policy from drought response to drought resilience. The other suggestions included: strengthening climate-smart agricultural mechanisation, promoting digital and precision agriculture, and promoting drought-resilient horticulture.
Suggested measures
Govt should consider providing additional relief measures over and above NDRF and SDRF norms
Govt should launch “One Taluk-One Drought Resilience Plan” based on watershed principles that should identify water availability, major crops and contingencies, critical drought-prone villages, irrigation potential, livestock population and existing water-harvesting structures
Agriculture, Revenue, Horticulture, and Animal Husbandry departments should record village-wise crop losses and provide compensation to farmers as per the existing norms