BENGALURU: As Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is busy giving final touches to the state budget he will present in the assembly on March 5, agriculture is likely to be one of the focus areas. Sources said that during his pre-budget meetings with the agriculture department officials, the CM showed a keen interest in taking several initiatives to boost the sector.
“The focus this time is likely to be on mechanisation, drip irrigation, organic farming and initiatives to encourage exports of horticulture produce,” sources said. The government will also take a new watershed development scheme to prevent drought in about 100 taluks as announced in the Governor’s address to the joint session of the legislature.
Agriculture Department sources said that the government is likely to roll out Land Resources Inventory (LRI) that will link all information related to land, soil, crop pattern and water utilisation with the soil health cards this year. Karnataka is considered the Light House state for the scheme that was taken up under a World Band programme and learnings from the state will be used while implementing the scheme in other states.
A senior Agriculture Department official told TNSE that the department is ready to roll out the LRI which helps farmers and the authorities. The CM has held several rounds of consultations with experts and farmer leaders to seek their views on the schemes in the Budget.
Besides, Dr Ram Fishman, from the Department of Public Policy, Tel Aviv University, who held discussions with Agriculture Department officials, was of the view that the State Government should take an initiative to bring farmers, industries and experts on the same platform to understand what farmers actually require and how to deliver it to them. Fishman, who has worked on Indian agriculture sector for 13 years, said: “I see acre after acre of missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential. It is our responsibility to present them with the solutions that are actually relevant to them instead of solutions which we think that are relevant to them.”