BENGALURU: Karnataka is witnessing a decline in cultivation of staple food crops, including paddy, jowar, tur and groundnut, reveals the Economic Survey of Karnataka 2023-24 report. This is because farmers are looking for crops that require less investment and more profit, experts say. Drought is said to be the main reason for the change.
The report reveals that the cultivation area of essential crops, including paddy, jowar and tur, is coming down in recent years, and increasing for cotton, soyabean, green gram, maize, Bengal gram and sugarcane.
It also specifies that production and cultivation area of certain crops has come down, compared to the previous year. During 2022-23, food crops were cultivated on a total area of 79.09 lakh hectares, and food production was 143.56 lakh tonnes; in 2023-24, 70.59 lakh hectares were cultivated, while production was 112.32 lakh tonnes.
Due to its varied agro-climatic features, almost all cereals, pulses, oilseeds and commercial crops are cultivated across the state. According to the Economic Survey report, the average area (2018-19 to 2022-23) cultivated with agriculture crops in kharif, rabi and summer seasons is 111.92 lakh hectares. Cereals are grown on 44 per cent of the land, pulses on 29 per cent, oilseeds on 10 per cent, cotton on 7 per cent, sugarcane on 9 per cent, and tobacco on one per cent of land.
Experts point out that this is because farmers are opting for crops that require less water, provide ease of cultivation, more profit and less investment. AB Patil, former registrar, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, told TNIE that farmers are opting for crops that require less water, fewer number of days to harvest, have low investment but high demand and good profit.
A senior agriculture department official, on condition of anonymity, said farmers have been in distress for the past few years due to drought, and are not getting back even their investment. They are now opting for crops that command a high market price. “But if this trend continues, it will not be a good sign as farmers may not grow certain crops as they feel they will not get much yield or revenue,” sources said.
Officials said if the government gives subsidies for such crops, farmers will opt to grow them. “We are also seeing a trend of prices of certain crops increasing as there is demand, but farmers are not growing them,” he added.