KALABURAGI: Farmers in Kalaburagi district — the Tur Bowl of Karnataka — have cultivated tur in about 6 lakh hectares this year which is higher than last year. While the farmers are expecting a bumper yield owing to timely rain and no major pest attack, fall in tur price in the market has become a cause for worry.
As on Saturday, wholesale dealers purchased a quintal of tur for a price below the Rs 5,000-mark and the price is expected to dip further with the arrival of new yield. Joint Director, Agriculture Department, Kalaburagi district, Ritendranath Sugur said that the farmers will start harvesting tur in the district within a fortnight and they are expecting to produce about 55 lakh quintal of tur this year.
Ritendranath said the district produced 20-25 lakh quintal of tur in 2018-19. The state intervened in January and procured 5.38 lakh quintal of average quality tur from 58,382 farmers by paying Rs 6,100 per quintal (Rs 5,675 MSP and incentive of Rs 425) up to April end.