BELAGAVI: Potato growers in the taluk are in a fix as the seeds have failed to germinate dashing all their hopes of the season. It has already claimed a life, with a farmer committing suicide recently.Belagavi is the only taluk in the district where potatoes are cultivated during the Kharif season in the red and black soil in rain-fed areas. Farmers grow potato in about 2,500 hectares of land in the taluk. The area of cultivation was large earlier but it is shrinking year by year due to changing climatic conditions and low yield against expectation. Still, some farmers cultivate potato. But this time, the farmers are staring at loss at the very beginning as the seeds they have sown are of substandard quality.
The commission agents who trade potato in the APMC market in Belagavi give the seeds on credit to the farmers every year. They get the seeds from Jalandhar in Punjab. Farmers have bought the seeds by paying Rs 2,400 per quintal.Appasaheb Desai, a farmer leader, said, “‘Hundreds of farmers have bought the seeds by taking loans. But most of the seeds are of poor quality and sold at a high price to the farmers. A potato grower spends about Rs 50,000 per acre of cultivation.
Soon a massive protest will be held before the Deputy Commissioner’s office to bring this loss to the government’s notice.”Ravindra Hakati, Deputy Director, Horticulture department, said, “‘Farmers are buying the seeds from the private trading companies and even do not ask for a receipt. This makes it difficult to take any action. However, we are conducting a survey and collecting the samples to investigate the quality of the seeds.”