BENGALURU: After the Union government repealed the three controversial farm laws last year, there was a demand for repealing Karnataka Land Reforms and APMC Acts that were passed by the state government. While the APMC Act allows private players to purchase agricultural commodities from farmers, the Land Reforms Act gives permission to non-agriculturists to buy farmland.
Seven months after the Union government repealed the farm laws, the State government here is not willing to take back the two pieces of legislation. In an interview with The New Sunday Express, Agriculture Minister BC Patil asserted that the state government has decided to retain both the Acts. He also spoke about fertiliser shortage, being reported from across the state.
The late arrival of monsoon and deficit rainfall have delayed sowing operations. Is it not a matter of concern?
There has been a delay in monsoon this time, and we had expected sowing to be completed by now. Close to 70 per cent of the total sowing area has been covered and the target has not been met. On a positive note, rain has picked up in some areas. We hope it will get better in the coming days.
Opposition parties are demanding that the farm laws passed by the state government be repealed. Is there any such proposal by the government?
No. We will not withdraw these laws and there is not even a proposal to do so. The APMC Act has been accepted by our farmers as it is helping them. Since the Act has been passed, middlemen have been eliminated and farmers are getting a better price for their produce. They are also benefiting from the Land Reforms Act. When the real beneficiaries are happy, what is the need to withdraw these laws?
An acute shortage of fertilisers has hit many parts of the state. What is the government doing?
There is no shortage of fertilisers in the state. We have sufficient diammonium phosphate (DAP), or complex fertiliser. Agents who are in the fertiliser business and middlemen are creating an artificial scarcity. The issue has been hyped up by Opposition party members and they are politicising it. We have vigilance teams which visit point-of-sale spots and godowns where fertilisers are sold. We will have day-to-day data on how much fertiliser comes at each of these sales outlets and how much is sold. Those involved in creating artificial scarcity will not be spared.
More than 50 per cent of posts in the Agriculture Department are vacant. Why have no measures been taken to fill them?
There was a shortage of staff and it did not happen overnight. We are filling the posts. There are 742 Raitha Samparka Kendras and there are no Agriculture Officers (AOs) at many of these centres. We are recruiting 300 AOs and will depute them on priority. Even then there will be a shortage, which will be filled in the coming days.
Are you aware that farmers are facing issues feeding crop data onto the app developed by the Agriculture Department?
The app was introduced in 2020 and there will be glitches initially. We have 2.10 crore agriculture plots, of which data related to 80 lakh were uploaded by farmers themselves. We are training farmers at Raitha Samparka Kendras. Issues will be rectified and the app streamlined in the coming days.
What are the measures taken by the government to ensure doubling of the income of farmers?
We are recruiting a director to our newly constituted Secondary Agriculture Directorate, which will be a dedicated team to work on this very issue. We also conducted a high-level meeting that had vice-chancellors of various agriculture universities.